The Forsaken Code
by MelisandreStark
Summary: To be a Jedi is a hard thing, not every Jedi was made for it. When Luminara Unduli and Obi-Wan Kenobi cross a line, an ancient prophecy unravels, Luminara/Obi-Wan. !ATTENTION! This story is under the process of being rewritten on Ao3 under the same username, so if you want to read a better quality version of this story, it's on there.
1. One

**Okay so this is Chapter 1 of a Lumiwan fanfic. It's going to be a maximum of 3 or 4 chapters because they're so long, and I hope someone else actually likes this. I'd luv a review cuz I feel like I'm the only lover of Lumi/Obi and need some likeminded friends rn. Anyway, hope someone likes this. And pre-warning, Dooku is quite OOC.**

* * *

Obi-Wan Kenobi was tired.

Geonosis had always been a more difficult place to keep hold of; the Geonosians would always be loyal to the Separatists and were dangerous rivals at the best of times. And it wasn't that Obi-Wan disliked having to fulfil his role as a Jedi—the opposite was true, in fact he was proud to be a Jedi—but sometimes the constant action made him feel ever so...tired. Not physically perhaps, but mentally he was exhausted. It was as if something was missing, some sort of rejuvenating quality that Obi-Wan was missing out on.

Everyone wanted to leave Geonosis, but there weren't enough ships to carry everyone back to Coruscant straight away so they had to stay for the night. Obi-Wan and Anakin had helped the clones put up shelters until it got dark, and Obi-Wan was happy to be in his own shelter at the end of a terribly long day, enjoying the calmness of the moment.

The curtain of his shelter opens and Obi-Wan is surprised to see Luminara Unduli standing before him, still head to toe in her robes, with a melancholy smile on her face. "I sensed you were disturbed, Master Kenobi." She says softly. "I wanted to see that you were alright. It's been a long day, after all."

He nods, purely out of courtesy. In reality he isn't really okay at all, but he is a Jedi, so he ignores any reservations he has and puts on his brave face. "You needn't worry about me, Master Unduli. I am quite fine."

She doesn't say anything for a minute, just looks at him, searching for answers in his eyes. The silence isn't uncomfortable at all; more like the two of them were seeking unconscious comfort in each other's presence. "I think that we have differing opinions of the definition of the word 'fine'." She says finally. Luminara had the uncanny ability to be calm in any situation, Obi-Wan found, and that was one thing he truly admired her for. She never let anyone know when she was scared or frightened, and had a solid grip of her emotions in every situation he'd seen her in.

"Please. Sit." He says, gesturing to the empty spot next to him on the makeshift bed he'd put up. She nods and sits down next to him with a natural grace that she'd always possessed, even as a child. "I believe you're right—about the definition of fine." He pauses, making eye contact with her properly for the first time. Her eyes are a deep and bright blue, gentle and trusting eyes. Obi-Wan had never realised how beautiful they were. "And I don't think I have one. A definition, I mean. Does anyone?"

Her eyes look into his curiously, as if she's trying to read the truth from his expression again. He wonders if she can. "I suppose fine means to be perfectly capable in a situation, but not quite sure if you feel negatively or positively about it." It was said as if she'd thought about every word carefully, like she'd been preparing to say that for a while. "It's a word often used to deflect questioning, and keep ones troubling thoughts to oneself, which is entirely self-destructive."

Obi-Wan presses his lips together and looks to the ground. He knows it is cowardly, not to look her in the eyes, but he isn't sure how else he can deal with such a situation. His whole life he'd been trying to drill cowardice out of himself and yet in his most vulnerable moments it still returned to him, as it did with everyone, he was sure. In truth, he hadn't been aware this was a vulnerable moment until he'd done that. "I just—it's hard to explain."

"Try." She almost whispers it. "Please. For me."

"We are brought to the temple as infants." He begins, still not mustering the courage to look at her in the eyes. "Taught to fight for the good of the people all our lives, as peace keepers and protectors. I can't help but feel like that the Jedi are turned into killing machines over time, and I worry that's all I am. We can never feel love, never have a family of our own. And while that's selfless I can't help just wanting the things that everyone else takes for granted." He sighs deeply and does looks up at her. "Are we all just machines inside, Luminara?"

"I have similar thoughts sometimes." She admits, and Obi-Wan can feel her tensing a little even though she's trying to hide it. "But I think that what we do is what must be done. I believe in a path that everyone must follow, that our lives are already written for us and we must follow the path set. My home planet is Mirial but I haven't been there since I was an infant, my entire purpose is to be a Jedi. The universe doesn't want me to be a regular Mirialan woman, else wise I wouldn't have been given the force and taken to the temple. If I wasn't a Jedi...then my life would have been wasted."

He looks up at her, seeing a certain sadness in her enchanting eyes that wasn't there before. He wonders if she is saying this out of complete truth or she is trying to make him feel better. There is another comfortable silence while they absorb and contemplate what's been said. "Do you ever think about it?" He asks. "What our lives would be like if we weren't Jedi?"

"I think it's best not to." She shakes her head. "If I do, I might upset myself, and it wouldn't be proper." She puts her hand on his, feeling the warmth coming off him. It is comforting on both parts, sometimes it takes a little human contact to help calm oneself. "Though sometimes it is inevitable." She continues. "When I was younger, about ten or eleven I think, I used to wish I could run away and find someone who I could love and who would love me back. I dreamt of having a family, but I now see that it was never to be. Just childish fancy."

He knows she is sad talking about it, even thinking about it. They both want that, deep down, though know it can never be. And she's right—it's best not to think about. Speculation is often the hardest part.

What he doesn't expect is the tear that falls down her cheek. She's always been in such perfect control of her emotions, so level headed. "Oh, don't cry." He whispers, wiping it away with his finger and pulling her into a hug against him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought up."

She chuckles bitterly against him, secretly savouring in the contact that she'd been deprived of her whole life. "I've never cried before, at least that I can remember. I can't say I quite know what do."

They pull apart and Obi-Wan puts his arms on her shoulders, giving her a very serious look. "You know I'm always here. If you never want to talk to someone about anything, I'll always listen to you, any time, any day."

She smiles gratefully to him. "Thank you, Master Kenobi."

"Obi-Wan." He says with a true smile. "You can call me Obi-Wan."

"Obi-Wan." She repeats, now smiling as well.

"Do you ever wonder," He begins, studying her face as he talks. He had never really studied her face properly before—never noticed the curve of her lips, the glimmer in her eyes, the significance of her tattoos. She's beautiful, he realises. "what would happen if forgot we were Jedi. Just for a night."

They can both feel their faces edging closer together, can both hear the mix of nervousness and excitement bubbling up inside them through the force. "Yes." She replies breathily, gazing into the pair of sapphire eyes looking back at her. "Too often."

Their lips meet in a moment of passion, her arms wrap around him and they both revel in the true and deep emotion between them, the contact they had never been able to feel before. They felt _alive._

Luminara pulls away, the sudden severity of her actions dawning upon her, the code rushing back into her mind. "We can't..." She stutters, putting her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, Obi-Wan, I can't..." She stands up and rushes out of his shelter.

He feels guilty too, deep down. But the feeling he's getting isn't one he'd experienced—the closest he'd ever experienced of love. Obi-wan wonders if she feels the same and stands up, running a hand through his hair.

His question is answered when Luminara runs back into his tent and kisses him with more fire than the last time, with a passion that was so unexpected and so welcome. He kisses her back with equal fire, feeling the way her body feels against him, the way they just _fit_ together. "Just for one night." She whispers to him when they pull apart. "I want to feel something that isn't pain."

Obi-Wan answers by kissing her again. He can feel her pulling his shoulder armour over his head, and once the armour's off he places his hands on her hips, both of them finding a pleasant rhythm so to best enjoy their forbidden dance.

His mind briefly flicks back to the code, but banishes the thought as quickly as it came. He pulls his top off in one quick motion, with a type of adrenaline that neither of them have ever felt before. Luminara's fingers gently brush against his muscles, the likes of which she's never seen before (or never looked at, she's seen muscular men before since she lived with a couple hundred of them, but had never really _looked_ ). His arms are strong and firm, something that you couldn't tell when there was fabric and armour hiding it. There is a large scar on the right side of his chest and she touches it softly looking up at him with a worried expression.

"It's healed now." He whispers, holding her against him. "Healed."

She kisses the scar softly and then reverts her attention back to his mouth. Her hands run up his chest and meet behind his neck. Luminara can feel his hands on her back undoing her tunic and in a moment of panic the steps back, wrapping her arms around her chest. "I'm not...I'm not beautiful, like you." She says through deep breaths.

"You are. Everything about you is beautiful to me." He replies, offering his hand out to her.

"No one's ever seen me..." She says, taking his hand and coming back closer to him slowly. "I only worry that you might not like me."

He smiles—a soft, gentle smile that sends love strait to her heart. A real smile. "This is like a journey, Luminara. No one's ever seen me either." He takes both her hands in his and looks into her eyes. "Let's do this together, eh? Together."

"Together." She repeats, letting him remove her tunic as she kicks off her boots. Underneath she wears a black piece of fabric that is tied around her chest and a pair of black boy shorts. Their lips meet again, and they fall back against Obi-Wan's small-but-practical bed and explore each other like they never thought they would.

* * *

It's early when she wakes, the sun is only beginning to rise and it's mostly still dark outside. Luminara is unaware of her surroundings at first which is unusual for her—she can't remember ever feeling this disoriented before in her life. It's only when she feels an arm around her naked form that she remembers where she is and what she's done. Guilt washes over her immediately, but when she sees his sleeping form next to her, so calm and neutral; she can't help feeling some of the love inside her that they'd shared the night before.

 _Should I wake him?_ She thinks, and even though she's reluctant to leave his warm embrace, she knows that she cannot be seen walking out of his shelter. Making the final decision to leave him be, Luminara gently removes herself from his arms and quickly dresses herself, making it back to her shelter before anyone suspects anything.

There is a warm feeling throughout her body that is such unknown territory for her that she doesn't know how to react. Just one night, they had agreed. But now she wanted _more._ She wanted to feel him inside her again, to have his arms around her and their lips meeting with a fire and passion she could find nowhere else.

But no, they'd agreed. And while she would never forget what happened, she knew she must try and put it behind her. She was still a Jedi, despite her big mishap, and had to continue as a Jedi.

It wasn't long before Barriss entered her shelter, an early riser like herself, with a smile on her face. "Master. I trust you slept well."

Luminara nods. "Very well. And you?"

"Just fine." Luminara almost laughs when Barriss says 'fine'. "The Captain said that the ships from Coruscant have entered the atmosphere and should be fit for boarding in about twenty minutes."

"Yes. That's good." She wonders if she should wait for Obi-Wan and take the same ship as him, but quickly puts the idea behind her. _Don't get sentimental now._ "We'll get on the first one. Have you got everything you need ready?"

Barriss nods. "Yes Master." Luminara was very proud of her apprentice; Barriss was everything she could have asked for in a padawan and more. The girl was a complete reflection of how Luminara had been at her age; obedient disciplined, clever and compassionate.

Due to their upbringing, Jedi grew up very quickly. Luminara was only 24, Barriss was in her second year of being a padawan, though many thought her to be at least ten years older. It wasn't that she looked particularly old at all, but she'd always been mentally older than she was physically. Barriss was much the same, the perfect Jedi. _Well, I was the perfect Jedi until last night._

They go outside of the shelter and receive a status report from Captain Rex. "There's definitely enough ships to take everyone back to Coruscant, we've estimated that the trip will be shorter than the one we took coming here due to us losing about half the men. Master Kenobi said to tell you not to worry about writing up the events, and that he would take care of it."

Luminara wills herself not to blush and manages to keep a completely straight face. "That is kind of him." Barriss says with a smile.

"The first of the ships are actually ready to head off." Rex points to a carrier ship that was quickly filling up with clones.

"I think we'll take that one, don't you Barriss?" Luminara forces a smile and thanks Rex before heading off to the ship. Part of her feels guilty for not waiting for Obi-Wan, but she quickly reprimands herself for thinking like that.

* * *

Obi-Wan comes out of his shelter and meets Anakin. "Where are the others?" He asks him, wanting to talk to Luminara before they got back to Coruscant.

"Ahsoka's helping Cody pack up some of the shelters; Master Unduli had just gotten on a carrier ship with Barriss." Anakin replies, pointing to the ship they have just boarded. Obi-Wan knows he won't make it onto the ship and lets the rational side of his mind reassure him that it isn't a problem, he can always talk to her later.

He watches their ship go up and catches Luminara's eye. She smiles at him—not one of her fake smiles, a real one—and he smiles back. There is a sort of childlike excitement between them, they have a secret, a special something that's between them and them alone. _She's beautiful,_ he thinks.

Anakin grins at him. "I think you've got something for Master Unduli."

"Got something?" Obi-Wan replies, surprised at his own ability to lie about everything so easily. "I'm not quite sure what you're trying to insinuate, Anakin."

"Sure." Anakin crosses his arms and smirks, nodding slowly.

"I'll go and get Ahsoka. I want to get off this planet as soon as I can." Obi-Wan turns around and begins to search for Anakin's equally feisty padawan, only to stop in his tracks completely when he heard an crash behind him.

It wasn't just a clone dropping something, he knew, for the ground _literally_ shook. There were only two instances where that would happen, and since if the crash had been a bomb Obi-Wan would be dead, he knew exactly what had happened.

Anakin was running towards the crash scene and by the time he turned, but Obi-Wan's body was completely paralysed.

The ship had crashed. Her ship.

He snaps out of his daze and rushes over to where Anakin was starting to get clones together and rescue them. "What happened?" He demands, watching as the clones rush to help get survivors out of the rubble.

"The engine must have failed or something, I don't know!" Anakin seems shocked too, and soon enough Ahsoka had arrived next to them asking similar questions. They all cough, waving their hands around to clear the air, the sand from the Geonosis floor had floated upwards and was getting into their mouths and eyes.

"Get them out of there!" Obi-Wan shouts throatily to the clones in a tone he almost never used, one of such anger it scares himself. This was what the Jedi code spoke about. Love led to anger, and anger led to—

No. He wouldn't think about that, not with Luminara in this shipwreck. The clones were working as fast as they could, and he knew that rationally, but he couldn't think rationally. That should have scared him, but it didn't. It wasn't fast _enough._ And he didn't care about anything else.

Feeling completely useless, Obi-Wan watched the clones continue working. They recovered some other clones, but after fifteen minutes there was still no sign of Luminara or Barriss, and the crippling anxiety was threatening to overcome him. It probably would have, if it weren't for Anakin and Ahsoka keeping him in the present. "Master." Anakin says to him, putting his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder gently. "We need to leave. I don't think the clones are going to find Luminara and Barriss, and while that's a great loss, we need to go. The Jedi council need to see us before the end of the week and we won't get there if we spend much more time looking."

"You're right." Obi-Wan rubs his hands together and closes his eyes. "The clones aren't going to find them."

He steps forward onto the cracked ground, trying to sense any other life force underneath the rock. Obi-Wan begins lifting in a state of utter concentration, moving boulder after boulder until Anakin is yelling his name to stop.

And then they heard it.

The scream. It was muffled underneath the rubble, but it was distinctly female and there were only two female passengers on that ship, so Obi-Wan's heart skipped a beat. "You found someone!" Anakin shouts, racing down to where they held the scream and helping Obi-Wan move the last rock. They jump down, only to find Barriss on her own and in tears.

"Master Kenobi? Master Skywalker?" She sniffles, standing up and practically falling over. Barriss was clutching a wound in her side, at first it appeared like something she'd gotten in the crash but it didn't take him long to reason it was from a blaster.

"How did you get this?" Anakin asked in great urgency as if he was reading Obi-Wan's thoughts. "And do you know where your Master is?" They wrap their arms around her shoulders and help her get up the surface.

Barriss shook her head and was still crying, and would have taken a fool not to realise something had happened and it hadn't ended well for either Barriss or Luminara. Obi-Wan could feel his heart sinking inside him.

They both help Barriss up to the surface where a medic is sent to her strait away. "What happened, Barriss?" Obi-Wan asks again.

"There was...this man..." Barriss was clearly fighting to stay conscious. "We tried to fight him but we were both already weak from the crash—she protected me but I couldn't save her..."

"Couldn't save her?" Anakin feels somewhat guilty for drilling her the way he was but continued anyway. "Did the man kill her?"

Barriss shakes her head. "I don't think so. He just shackled her and took her...away. She resisted to start with and said that she'd rather die but...then he shot me and said he'd kill me if she didn't come willingly so she..." There were more tears and Ahsoka hugged her, careful not to touch her wound in any way.

 _Selfless,_ Obi-Wan thought to himself. He knew that directly it hadn't been his fault, but he still felt like it was in some deep, dark part of his mind. Before they could ask Barriss anything else she was being taken up to the cruiser where they had a proper med-bay. Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka got on the next carrier.

"That's so awful." Ahsoka says as they take off. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone that shaken up. I mean, she was in _pieces._ And poor Master Unduli. We need to find out where she was taken."

There a literal infinite amount of places Luminara could have been taken, and Obi-Wan hadn't got a clue where to start. She had just disappeared. They'd sent out troops to find her but he knew that if this man was powerful enough to defeat Luminara and Barriss—even though they were slightly shaken up— _and_ take Luminara captive, they had no hope.

 _I will find her though,_ he promises himself. _Even if it takes me a thousand years._

* * *

Anakin and Obi-Wan had just finished briefing the council on the events of Geonosis. "And me and Master Kenobi wanted permission to conduct Master Unduli's rescue mission." Anakin ends.

The council was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure." Mace Windu replies. "You've just come off a large mission. I think it'd be best to set Master Unduli's rescue to someone with more rest."

"I have to disagree, Master Windu." Obi-Wan says. In truth, he hadn't even considered the possibility that they wouldn't get her rescue mission. "As me and Master Skywalker were present on Geonosis we feel it would be easier if we attempted to track her. We'll more of a chance of tracking her successfully, we believe."

"Right, he is." Yoda chimes in, smiling at them like he knows there are underlying reasons for their will to be given the mission but won't inquire about it. "Receive this task, they should."

Mace nods. "Fine. Master Skywalker, Master Kenobi, you are charged to find Master Unduli with the assistance of padawan Tano."

They both nod and exit the room quickly. Mace turns to Yoda. "What do you think of this mysterious kidnapper? It all seems a bit...planned."

Yoda nods. "Meditate on this, I will. Find Master Unduli, we must, to shed light on these most unusual happenings."

* * *

She is once again surprised when she wakes—but in this case, it is an unpleasant surprise. She was being held in a similar contraption to the one she'd been held in by Queen Karina, though this time she is very unsure about her location. The last thing she remembers is being knocked out on Geonosis.

The door opens and to her great surprise—another unpleasant one—Count Dooku himself was before her. "Master Unduli." He seems to be oddly happy, like he's won a great victory. Luminara wonders if it's her capture he's gotten so excited about, and if so, why? She certainly isn't a particularly valuable prize, and was willing to die before giving up any information about the Jedi. "You cannot imagine how grand it is to have you in my possession."

"Can I not?" She replies, calm as ever. "And why is that?"

He chuckles and grins at her, an unusual set of actions for him and it makes Luminara feel uneasy. Still, she doesn't show it, and just glares at him. "Now that would be telling." He releases one of her arm restraints, only to shackle said arm, and proceeded to do the same with the other arm. "You're being moved."

She raises an eyebrow at him. "Was that torture cell too comfortable for your liking?"

Dooku doesn't reply, but he's still smiling which tells her that he's probably taking her to be tortured somewhere else (somewhere damp and dark, from what she's heard about his tastes in torture). "Last time I saw you, you were a padawan. They all thought you'd be such a good Jedi." He sighs, and Luminara remains calm, despite the jab.

Still, it wasn't like she was the perfect Jedi anymore.

He takes her into a room that has a comfortable looking bed, en suite bathroom and bookshelf. "You'll be getting three meals a day. If you desire anything, anything besides freedom and death, you may have it. I will visit you at least twice a day; I don't want you getting lonely, Master Unduli. And if you do lonely, just call my name and I'll come over." He has a vile grin plastered over his face.

Leaving before she has a chance, Luminara doesn't have time to ask him any more questions. She is still a prisoner, she knows—being locked away is essentially the definition of prisoner—but this isn't like any cell she's seen before. It looks more like a guest's room.

First of all, she promises herself that she won't ever call for him (and why would she, he's a Sith psychopath!). The cameras in the corners of the room aren't hard for her to notice, and she comes to the conclusion that this must be some sort of experiment. What else could it be?

Cautiously, Luminara begins to look around. In the bathroom there is a large bath, showerhead and a variety of different soaps (many in scents she's never heard of, but then again, she never really was a girl to focus on that kind of thing), as well as several luxurious fluffy white towels, a sink and toilet. The floor is white marble and almost reminds her of a spa (not that she's ever been to a spa apart from the time she arrested someone there) and the curious part of her mind is becoming ever desperate for answers.

The main room is much like the sort of bedroom she'd wished for in her teenage years. There was a big bookshelf with what must have been about a hundred books, as well as an armchair that she assumed you were supposed to read in. The bed was big and Luminara had never slept in anything like it, being a soldier didn't normally include big, cosy beds. She notices a bowl of fruit on the bedside table, and despite being starved, she chooses to leave it. Being poisoned was low on her list of things to do.

A wardrobe on the far side of the room catches her eye also, and slowly Luminara approaches it, gently opening the wooden doors. She is surprised that it is full of clothes, and when she looks at it she realises that there is a mixture of battle gear, oversized t-shirts and sweatpants (she couldn't imagine why). Part of her wanted to change, considering how filthy her clothes were, but she was still reluctant to use anything that Dooku had given her.

"What is this?" She whispers to herself and looks up to one of the cameras. "Why are you doing this?" This time she speaks louder and directly to the camera, knowing that she won't get any response. _What am I supposed to do?_

A small serving droid enters through a cat flap looking entrance in her door with a bowl in its arms. "You are hungry. Count Dooku brings you food." The droid says. Luminara takes the food and sets it down on the floor, waiting for the droid to go. Once it's gone she tries to open the flap again so see if she can get out, but it's locked again by the time she gets to it.

In the bowl there is a themed set of foods. Funge-bread, a type of bread that's eaten predominantly on Ryloth, was on the ride of Rycrit stew, another Twi'lek food. She wonders why the food is themed, but deems in unimportant and looks at it closer.

As far as she can tell, it is completely edible. It smells the way it should and looks the way it should and she is _starving._ Though no, she will not, it is dark temptation and she will resist. Luminara walks away from the food and towards the bathroom where she can't see or smell it.

* * *

Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka were meeting in Anakin's apartments to discuss their rescue mission, and where to begin.

"We could get Barriss to help us." Ahsoka offers. "She might know something, maybe saw the species of the person or, I don't know, something that would make them recognisable. We could get somewhere from that, if she's willing to aid us."

Obi-Wan nods. "Yes, she'll definitely want to help us. Her and Master Unduli were very close."

"Do we agree that this was the Separatist's work?" Anakin is twirling his lightsaber hilt in his hand absentmindedly, wondering how you find someone who just disappeared.

"I think so, it must be." Ahsoka says. "And I think there's a good chance she's still on Geonosis, maybe in some catacombs we didn't find. There must be miles of those things under that planet."

"That's a good suggestion, actually." Obi-Wan's eyes light up at that, he gets some paper and makes a note of what Ahsoka said. "I'll ask the council to send someone to do a scan of Geonosis. If they find traces of a Mirialan, we'll narrow it down indefinitely."

"I'm gonna go and find Barriss, see if we can talk to her now." Anakin says, receiving nods of approval from Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. He leaves them in his apartments and goes to find Luminara's Padawan, who would most likely be in the library after recently leaving the medical wing.

"You know, Master, we will find her." Ahsoka says, sensing that Obi-Wan was on edge.

He acknowledges what she says, but doesn't reply to it. "Have you ever been to Mirial, Ahsoka?"

She shakes her head. "Have you?"

"I went once, many years ago with my Master. I don't suppose you know much about him either, his name was Qui-Gon Jinn. The best man I ever knew. Anyway, we went to Mirial for purely diplomatic reasons. Nothing much happened there, but I have to tell you. It's a dry planet, and cold. But the sunsets on Mirial are truly beautiful." _Just like her,_ he adds mentally. He remembers it clearly, fondly, and finds it no surprise that Luminara would come from such a beautiful place (though he had to admit Mirial wasn't quite so pleasant during the day).

"I hope that one day I will get to go there under peaceful circumstances." Ahsoka replies. Obi-Wan had grown to like Anakin's padawan a lot. She balanced Anakin out well though seemed to have inherited some rash motives. Obi-Wan had been asked to consider taking a second padawan, but had decided it was too soon after Anakin and had chosen to help his former apprentice with Ahsoka instead.

She goes on to discuss Shili, her own home planet, and before long Anakin returns with Barriss.

"Master Kenobi, Ahsoka." She says formally, the tone Luminara had taught her to use. Anakin pulls out a chair for her and they all sit in a circle.

"We wanted to talk to you about what happened on Geonosis." Anakin starts. "You said you saw a man. Did you see anything about his appearance that might help us identify him?"

She is quiet, biting her lip nervously, trying to recall the memory. "He had cloth over his moth and most of his head, and he wore brown robes. Most likely human like you, I think, since around his eyes his skin colour was the same as yours." Her eyes are closed as she pictures the figure. "He was definitely a man, his voice was deep and you could just sort of tell. I think he had a lightsaber on his belt, but he didn't use it, only a blaster and the force.

"I wish I could tell you more." Barriss was still clearly unsettled by the situation. Her wound was practically healed from a bacta-bath, but Obi-Wan knew the mental wound would still sting for a lot longer. "I suppose the only other thing was that he was clearly after my Master, not me, and I think he was responsible for the ship crashing. I don't know why."

They were all quiet for a moment, taking everything in, and Ahsoka was scribbling down what Barriss was saying. "Was Master Unduli behaving...I don't know, a little different around the time of the crash?" Anakin was taking this remarkably seriously. Well, for Anakin.

"I don't think so." She frowns, once again trying to recall the memory. "I suppose she seemed quite...happy. Like she'd slept well. She was probably just happy to have Geonosis back under control."

"Thank you so much, Barriss. That'll definitely help us." Ahsoka sounds encouraging, Obi-Wan thinks. Yes, she will be a good Jedi.

"Can I help you?" She says, though seemed somewhat reluctant, though Obi-Wan puts that down to shyness. "It's only, I think I'll just be doing research until my Master returns or I'll be..." She gulps. "Reassigned. But maybe if I could just help you, we could find her quicker, and then I'd get my Master back..."

"We'll ask the council." Obi-Wan tells her. "I don't see why they'd have any problems with it. And it'd be good to have an extra set of eyes while we're scanning the starcharts."

"Thank you Master Kenobi!" Her face seems to light up as he speaks, and that's when Obi-Wan realises the one big difference between Luminara and her apprentice. While Luminara was graceful and calm, Barriss was more excitable and found it harder to keep her emotions under control. Though really, in comparison to Luminara, everyone found it difficult to keep their emotions under control. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing though, if anything it reflected her age, she was still young.

* * *

Master Yoda and Master Windu were meditating.

There was something new, Yoda felt, something strong in the force that had been dormant since Master Unduli's capture. Something strong and important, a message the force was desperately trying to convey. "Do you sense it too?" Mace says, his eyes opening.

"Sense something, I do." Yoda nods.

"It's almost familiar." Mace continues. "Something I've seen before, but stronger, more apparent. I feel that it somehow connects to Master Unduli, yet I'm unsure how."

"Similar things, I see." It was frustrating, like something you can see but not quite reach, or an old face that you just can't picture. Yoda had seen flashes of Master Unduli, enough to know she was alive. He's seen her asleep once, looking somewhat peaceful, and then her screaming in tremendous pain. How this connected to whatever was happening...he had yet to find out.

He looks to Mace with a gentle smile. "Notify the council of this we shall. Seen it to, they must have."

"I agree." Windu nods. "I believe that finding out the meaning of this disturbance is paramount."

Little did they know what the most dangerous and wonderful of thing in all the universe was taking place right in front of them.

* * *

It had been a week, at least, she'd slept seven times.

Luminara had refused to eat for the first few days, and Count Dooku had begun tasting all the food given to her before she ate it to make sure she ate something. She wished she could know why, he obviously had some agenda and needed her alive, but for what? Why was she so important?

She'd showered for the first time, putting a piece of fruit under the water first before to check it wasn't acid or something like that. She was constantly aware that she was being watched and hadn't been able to shower naked, so she'd taken some of the undergarments from the wardrobe and worn them under the water. Of course they were soaking by the time she got out, but the serving droid had come to collect them soon after, apparently to have everything washed. It was like being at a very constrictive hotel.

The clothes in the wardrobe were quite nice, she'd taken to wearing a black combat dress that was quite similar to what she wore regularly, since she was beginning to feel quite disgusting wearing her own battle gear for a week straight.

Count Dooku came to see her every day. He never gave any sort of explanation of what he was doing with her, but spoke of a great manner of things. Different civilisations, her opinions on politics and slavery, the force, what he could do to make her more comfortable.

"Could I ask for something?" She says on the seventh day, less self conscious around Count Dooku as she had been when they'd first seen each other.

"Of course." He replies, seemingly happy that she had deemed herself able to ask for something. Perhaps he thought he was gaining some sort of trust, though that would have been terribly naïve of him.

She pauses, studying his face, wondering what he'd say if she asked for her freedom. She knows he'll never let her have that. "Could I have punching bag?"

Luminara could have laughed at the look of shock on his face when she spoke. It wasn't that much of an odd request, she thought, considering how much of her life had been spent sparring. He gives her a strange look, and finally says: "But why, if you don't mind?"

"I've spent my entire life training to fight things. I feel awfully immobile not being able to do anything other than stretches." She smiles at him then—a fake smile, not like the kind she gives Obi-Wan. "You understand, do you not?"

"You may have one. I'll have the droids fit it here by the end of the day." He nods slowly. Part of her, the civilised part, feels the need to give him her thanks, to think maybe he isn't so bad. It is in that moment that Luminara realises that the civilised part of her mind is completely useless. Count Dooku could give her a bunch of flowers and a palace and she would still rather kill him than thank him. She despises him with every inch of her being. "Could you answer me a question, Master Unduli?"

She didn't expect him to call her 'Master Unduli', though suspects he hasn't lost all the etiquette he learnt during his many years as a Jedi. "It's not as if I can stop you."

He ignores her comment and continues. "How do you get along with Master Windu?"

"What?" She gives him a confused look. "We sit on the council together. But other than that I don't know him well."

Count Dooku seemed almost surprised by this, though she could tell he was trying to keep his face neutral. "So, who are you closest with?"

"Why do you ask?" He does not reply. The feeling of passing personal boundaries is all too clear, she knows he wants an answer and she's afraid to give it. _Who does he want me to talk about?_ She can feel her body tensing and stands, looking away from him. "Probably my padawan, considering that we share apartments. Though I suppose you should have already guessed that."

She cannot see him, but can sense he is unhappy with her answer. He does not press any further though, and leaves her room.

 _Oh, where am I?_ She thinks, falling back in the little chair in her room. Inside she was desperately hoping that the Jedi were looking for her, but she couldn't begin to imagine where she was.

Places like the Citadel were ruled out immediately, since she assumed bases designed for physical torture didn't contain cells like the one she'd been given. It was also obvious that her capture had been planned for, especially considering Count Dooku had provided a wardrobe full of clothes in her size. But beyond that, she didn't really have any clues at all, since she'd been unconscious upon arrival.

* * *

Obi-Wan wonders how long it will take the others to give up, and knows that he will never will. So far Anakin, Ahsoka and Barriss have all been very eager and active, perhaps partly due to Luminara being Barriss's Master, but he knows that should they not get any further their enthusiasm will die quickly.

Jedi Knight Adi Gallia had been sent to Geonosis and had had spent five days scanning the planet to no avail. They had considered sending more Jedi to other grey planets that Luminara could be on, but knew that this method would take too long and would likely be unsuccessful.

There was something different in the force, everyone sensed it. Master Yoda had told all the Jedi not to worry about it and that he and Master Windu were taking measures to work out what was happening. Obi-Wan hadn't really gotten the energy to worry about it, his mind was entirely focussed on Luminara.

"It's tricky." Ahsoka says as they all looked at a hologram map of the gray and Separatist planets. "We didn't see any ship or speeder that she took to get to wherever she went, which makes her practically impossible to find with the regular methods."

"I think out best option at this point is to meditate on it." They had all been meditating on it a lot recently, but no one had gotten anything more than a few flashes of her in a holding cell or asleep.

Barriss bites her lip—an apparent nervous habit she possesses—and looks at the hologram. "I can't help feeling like we're missing something."

"I think that's how everyone feels." Anakin replies, running his hand through his hair. Obi-Wan doesn't know how much of a relationship Anakin and Ahsoka have with Luminara. He knows that they've worked together before, and that Ahsoka have saved her life in a battle with Asajj Ventress, but outside of mission work he wasn't sure they had really spoken.

Obi-Wan had known her for a very long time, he was only two years older than her so they had been a younglings together. They'd been very good friends as children, he still remembered them taking extra Puff cakes from the canteen and hiding it in their dormitories, and her fighting him everyday without any weapons for years until she finally beat him.

They had only seen each other every few months once Obi-Wan became a padawan, and he'd become infatuated with Duchess Satine Kryze on a mission to Mandalore. When he thought back to Satine, he realised he'd just been caught up with the way she looked (and the fact she was an older woman who clearly wasn't stupid), and he hadn't ever seen anyone else in that light. It wasn't love, he knew. Love was what he had with Luminara, a feeling that had laid dormant until their night in Geonosis.

He wouldn't let that be his last memory of her.

"Serenno." Obi-Wan says, a little unaware he'd spoken it aloud.

"What about it?" Anakin says, looking at the planet on the map.

"It's Count Dooku's home planet. I don't think Luminara is there, but it's worth checking out, don't you think?" Serenno was deep in Separatist territory and even though it was unlikely Luminara was there, Obi-Wan was sure they'd be some information about it there.

Anakin almost laughs. "We could never go to Serenno and escape alive. And there's no way she's there, it's like his personal planet, he wouldn't have a Jedi in his home unless it was life and death."

They all leave to meditate and nothing else is said about Obi-Wan's proposition, but for some reason he can't get Serenno out of his head. He knew Count Dooku must be involved in it somehow—he was involved in everything that was to do with the words 'pain' and 'Jedi' put together—and Obi-Wan just wanted someone to tell him, make it clear what in the name of force was happening.

* * *

It was late one night, three weeks after Master Unduli had gone missing, that the truth dawned upon him.

Yoda was out of bed like a shot, he ran to the Jedi archives to assure himself. _Yes,_ he said to himself. _This is it, this is it._

His dream had been hard to decipher at first. He'd seen Master Unduli lying down grimacing, a few tears running down her cheeks. Weakly begging for something to stop, though it wasn't clear what. Then she's screamed. She'd stopped her screaming after a minute, and despite the sweat and tears on her face she allowed herself a small smile.

And then it had started again, but differently. She was screaming inaudible words, Yoda suspected some of them were in Mirialan, crying with a depth and sorrow he hadn't seen in years. There was only one situation where a person could be crushed, so broken, so gut-wrenchingly pained and Yoda had lived long enough to have seen it in all its horror.

How this dream had connected with the great disturbance in the force hadn't been clear at first, but after he woke and had time to think about it, it made sense. The Jedi had been wrong about something for years, and the truth had been realised far too late. Count Dooku had gotten to it first, and that was a grievous problem.

Yoda's only consolation was that they had time to rectify their mistake, and that Luminara Unduli was a very strong Jedi. He remembered the day he'd first seen her like it was yesterday. Ki-Adi-Mundi had brought her in to the temple after a battle on the planet Kiros where her parents had taken semi-permanent residence, and were killed in the crossfire. He'd found Luminara, a nine month old infant, alone in her crib and using the force to bang a sundial against a window—he assumed to attract attention from her parents.

The entire council had been impressed by young Luminara. In her infancy she had been bubbly and excitable, though once she reached the age of three she had already become studious and mature. Quite quickly she'd become good friends with Obi-Wan Kenobi and it had made Yoda proud to see her develop lifelong relationships so quickly.

Though the main thing everyone had been so impressed by was her persistence, her complete refusal to give up at anything. She'd been told at age 6 by another youngling that she would never be able to become a Jedi Knight because she was a girl.

In response to this, she had become one of their fastest ever padawans to pass their graduation at age 17. Obi-Wan had graduated at 17 also, but it had been under different circumstances since he's lost his Master. She had never been particularly good with children, but had an empathetic link with those who had lost their parents in a similar manner to her and made it her job to protect those who had less than her.

Yoda hoped that Luminara wouldn't lose her will, though from what he'd seen it would be impossibly hard for her. And should they ever get her back, Yoda knew what he would have to do to her, no matter how much guilt it made him feel.

 _Wherever you are, Luminara Unduli, let the force guide you._

* * *

The punching bag Luminara had been provided with had taken a significant bashing.

She liked to imagine Dooku's face as she hit with all the force she could muster, as she pounded it with her knuckles and smacked with her heel when she spun around to kick it. Still, ever a down to earth person, she knew she'd never be satisfied whacking a floating bag. The real thing would be _so_ much more satisfying.

Her arms practically ached to hold her lightsaber again. It had been her life, she'd constructed it herself at age 12 with her Master, and hated the fact that she couldn't use it.

Exhausted after abusing the bag for a solid three hours, Luminara collapsed on the bed breathing shallowly and wiping the sweat off her forehead. She needed a shower, she knew, but the whole process of showering with underwear on made her uncomfortable—albeit less uncomfortable than she'd feel showering naked, but uncomfortable nonetheless. Count Dooku had informed her a few days ago that she needn't worry about nudity and no one would judge her, to which she had firmly stated she had no intention of becoming someone's afternoon video enjoyment.

He'd laughed then, and said he didn't remember her having such a dry sense of humour.

She'd said she wasn't joking.

Supposing that it was better to shower now than put it off, she pulled her tunic over her head and took a fruit from the bowl before entering the bathroom. She still but the fruit under the water before she went under it, just to make sure they didn't change it to acid on a sudden whim to murder her. By 'they' she meant Count Dooku and whoever else found it amusing to keep her locked up (though she had a suspicion it was just Dooku and his weird fetishes).

Despite its comforts, her room really did feel like prison. Sure, there was a bed she could sleep in, books she could read and a floating bag she hit but she still didn't have her freedom. It made her think of the poor Twi'lek slaves, scandalized at such young ages and forced to sell their bodies; should she ever get out of there alive, she would certainly want more missions involving the rescue of Twi'lek slave girls.

The one question she couldn't stop asking herself was why was it _her_ being locked up, of all the Jedi. Why was she different from the others, what about her meant she didn't get a couple weeks of torture and painful execution like everyone else?

Luminara stepped under the water after testing it with the fruit and let the water soak into her hair. Mirialan's all had black hair as a general rule, and hers wasn't any different. The women kept their covered up at all times before they found their lifemates, and even though she had Obi-Wan, it was still comforting for her to wear it. And it wasn't like she wanted to exploit the fact she'd broken the code.

The first person to ever see her hair was Obi-Wan on their last night together, he'd called it beautiful and said that he's never seen a more stunning person in his life. _Never seen a more stunning person in his life._ Part of her was thinking about how cheesy that was, and the other half was getting all giddy like a child with a Puff cake.

She picks up a bottle of shampoo—the scent is Rominaria flower, not that Luminara knew what a Rominaria flower was—and starts to massage it into her scalp. Her underwear is beginning to soak up uncomfortably and she tries to ignore it as she lathers more the soap into her hair.

Moving onto her body, she rinses her hair out and takes out the shower gel (this time scentless, which she appreciated, since the Rominaria flower was starting to make her feel a little sick). As she gets to her stomach she realises something was wrong.

Her body had been always exactly the same since the end of her adolescence, her arms and legs toned, breasts a medium size and stomach flat. As her hand ran over it, Luminara couldn't help feeling like there was a slight curve to it. Something wasn't right.

Quickly rinsing herself off, Luminara exits the shower and looks at herself in the mirror. She turns sideways and looks at the reflection of her stomach. She can't really see anything different, perhaps it is just a trick in her mind.

Shrugging it off, she towels herself dry and spends the rest of her evening reading a book on the history of Tatooine.

* * *

Yoda had called an urgent meeting with Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka and Barriss, and Obi-Wan was beyond confused.

He was hopeful that the Grandmaster had discovered something vital and was close to finding Luminara, but wasn't naïve enough to believe it true. It was probably going to be something like 'you've looked long enough, the time has come to let her go'. Obi-Wan wouldn't let her go for as long as his heart pumped blood and his lungs breathed air, and even longer if he could manage it (though he hadn't quite figured out how that would work).

The four of them come into a meditation room where Yoda had said to meet, and was already in meditation. They all sit down, wondering if someone should say something or he was just waiting for the right moment to start their rendezvous.

Finally, he opens his eyes. "Still looking for Master Unduli, you are, I trust." He says, a melancholy smile on his face. They can all sense that something's wrong, but are almost too afraid to ask.

"We are." Anakin says. "Is something wrong, Master?"

The old Jedi has an uncertain expression on his face, which unsettles everyone. Normally he is cheerful in the most dire of situations, often letting out a little chuckle and keeping in a positive state until the end. "Seen something unsettling, I have." He begins, legs still crossed in the meditation position. "And regarding Master Unduli, it is."

"You said you and Master Windu were looking into the disturbance we all felt." Barriss states, clearly taking everything beyond seriously. "Is my Master related to it?"

Yoda nods. "A prophecy there is. The Chosen One, it discusses." He looks to Anakin. "You, it is not, young Skywalker."

Hearing Yoda say that, Obi-Wan worries that Anakin will get a little angry, but instead he looks completely calm, if not relieved. "I don't understand, Master." Ahsoka says. "How does this relate to Master Unduli?"

"Is the chosen one my Master?" Barriss asks, clearly shocked at this announcement.

 _Could Luminara be the Chosen One?_ Obi-Wan thinks. She was certainly powerful, a highly skilled and empathetic Jedi, but the reason Anakin had been thought to be the Chosen One was because of how completely apparent it had been that he was different. If Luminara was the Chosen One, surely someone would have noticed it before she got kidnapped, wouldn't they?

"Calm yourselves, you must." Yoda always seemed to be in a state of absolute peace. Obi-Wan wondered how he did it. "Master Unduli is not the chosen one. Connected to the chosen one, however, she is."

"So...if we are ever going to find the chosen one, we need to find my master?" Barriss asks slowly.

Yoda nods. "Correct, young padawan."

"So what your basically saying is that we need to increase our efforts to find her, to ultimately locate the Chosen One?" Anakin says.

"Done some research, I have." Yoda replies. "Track her lightsaber, you can. Ask Master Ti, help you she can. Go, you must. Find our missing Master Jedi."

Anakin, Ahsoka and Barriss all run out of the room in search of Shaak Ti, but Obi-Wan lingers, looking to the old grandmaster. "Is she alright?" He asks, reluctant to hear the answer.

There is a long pause before Yoda finally replies. "For now."

The small green creature left Obi-Wan alone in the meditation room. He wasn't aware that you were able to track lightsabers unless you had part of the crystal inside them. Maybe that's what Master Ti knew about, maybe part of Luminara's crystal was still in the Jedi temple.

 _For now._ What was that supposed to mean? It was a time reference, and Obi-Wan knew that could only mean her time was running out.

Perhaps the thing that scared him the most was that it'd be too late by the time he got to her. He'd been too late to save his Master, had to leave him to die while he fought of the Sith apprentice that had murdered him. He wasn't sure he could do that again with Luminara, everything that had happened with Qui-Gon had shaken him more than he would have liked to admit.

Luminara would have understood him. He wished she was with him, willed her to appear next to him with a smile on her face and a laugh in her throat. Rationally, he knew this could not be. But Obi-Wan was becoming truly sick of being rational, why couldn't the universe just be everyone's perfect fantasy?

Did she think of him, wherever she was? Did she miss him like he missed her, feel the loss like he did? Was she cold, was she starving and exhausted?

Could he save the one woman he loved more than anything, or would he lose another part of his heart?

* * *

"What's wrong, Ani?" Padme asks as she runs her hand though his hair. He's been ever so stressed recently and she hadn't been able to see him as often as she would have liked.

He sighs, kissing her softly and closing his eyes. "It's this mission. Master Unduli went missing more than a month ago now and we're getting really close to locating her, but I'm worried that we won't be able to get to her."

"Master Unduli? I haven't heard that name before." Padme says, trying to think about all the Jedi she's met. She knew a fair few of them, the ones who spent a lot of time in the senate and the ones Anakin spent a lot of time with, but she hadn't ever crossed paths with 'Master Unduli'.

"Luminara Unduli. She's Mirialan, I doubt you'd know her, if anything she tries to steer away from the senate." Anakin says, sitting up. "She was quite close with Obi-Wan, I think. He's not really the same now she's gone."

Padme smiles at him. "I'm sure it'll turn out fine, you and Obi-Wan are the two best Jedi I know, she couldn't have better people looking for her."

"Master Yoda says she's connected to the chosen one." He'd told her strait away that he wasn't the chosen when Yoda told him. He'd been ecstatic. There had always been so much pressure on him to be the best Jedi, to do more than any Jedi had done before, but he had never felt right for it. He only felt sorry for the real Chosen One, the pressure was crippling. "And if Yoda knows that, the Separatists probably know that too. I think that's why they're keeping her captive."

She takes a moment for that to sink in. "Is there anything I can do? You say she's Mirialan, maybe I could find out who opposes Mirial the senate. Try and get information that way."

"I'm not sure that would help. It isn't about her race; it's about what she can do. And we're still unsure about that too, she might not even know it herself." Shaak Ti had helped them get a hold of part of Luminara's lightsaber crystal. Apparently when she was building it her crystal had been too big, so they had to melt it down and take a third of it away. It had been kept in the archives for years in case it was needed for studying or something like that.

They had used the crystal to scan the atmosphere for any identical objects, using reliable bounty hunters and spies in separatist planets. So far they hadn't gotten anything useful, but now it was just a matter of time.

"She's a really good person, Padme." She can tell he means everything he says from the sincerity in his voice, and wishes there was something else she could do to help him. "I've worked with her a couple of times. You should have seen her on Geonosis, she was brilliant. I'd heard that Mirialan's were flexible, but I swear she was like a gymnast as she tore through those droids. It was like an art."

"She sounds like an amazing woman. I'd love to meet her one day." Padme says truthfully—the way he talks about this Jedi makes her curious. She knew that Anakin admired Obi-Wan a lot, and Qui-Gon from the littler time he'd known him, but she'd never heard him talk about any other Jedi that way.

His communicator beeps and Anakin automatically answers it. "Master? What is it?"

"We've picked up a signal. We've located her lightsaber." Obi-Wan says, and Padme can't help but notice he sounds a little solemn through the transmitter.

"Well where is it?" Anakin asks, standing up and preparing to dash off. Padme would be lying if she'd say she wasn't disappointed. It was the first time she'd been able to see him all week, both their schedules didn't really leave much quiet alone time. Still, she knew it could wait, and this Master Unduli situation was clearly more urgent that Padme Amidala missing the man she loves.

There is a pause, as if Obi-Wan is nervous. "I was right, all that time ago. Serenno."

Anakin freezes. Padme knew of Serenno, as everyone in the senate did, it was Count Dooku's centre of action. He lived there and ruled the planet, he had a palace there in which he lived, a fortress. The planet was so heavily guarded that no Jedi had even attempted to go there. She dreaded to think that Anakin and Obi-Wan would try, no matter how amazing this woman they were trying to save was.

"I need to go." Anakin says to her. "You understand? I'm sorry."

She nods, letting him run off and hearing the lift open for him. _Oh, be safe Ani. Don't go dying for some woman that's gotten herself captured._

* * *

Obi-Wan was sitting in a control room when Anakin rushed in, breathing shallowly since he'd clearly been running from wherever he came from. He would have called Ahsoka and Barriss too, but they were watching the younglings with Master Yoda for the afternoon so he thought he'd brief them later.

"I came as fast as I could." Anakin gasps, leaning against the wall as he caught his breath.

"Clearly." Obi-Wan replies, raising an eyebrow that makes Anakin snigger. It's soon forgotten as Obi-Wan brings up a hologram of Serenno and they observe it. "It's a rural planet, Dooku's home. Apparently he has a palace there in which he has held multiple prisoners in the past and subjected them to unimaginable torture. No enemy of his gets out of there alive, at least no one had to date." He gulps as he says it, thinking of poor Luminara. "It's a stronghold. There's a whole Separatist fleet protecting it. We'll have to plan extensively if we're going to get in."

Anakin studies the planet, in deep thought. "There must be some way in."

"The only thing I could think of was entering in disguise with someone who visits him amicably, and the only person I could think of filling that criteria was Asajj Ventress." Obi-Wan says, wondering how on earth they were going to get her to help them.

Anakin lets of a bitter laugh. "I love her. This should be easy."

"I wish I could think like you do." Obi-Wan replies, but he's smirking. "I'll talk to the council about building up a plan tomorrow. Do you know when Ahsoka and Barriss will be done with the younglings?"

"No clue." Anakin is still looking at the planet studiously, like he's trying to figure out to get there through the hologram. "I can check, if you like."

Obi-Wan shakes his head, "No. That's fine—can we just go to the canteen? I haven't eaten all day because I've been tracking the lightsaber and I'm starved."

"I'd love to, Master." Anakin says, smiling despite the situation. "I could have a Puff cake myself, now I'm thinking about it. And maybe a cookie. You know, the kind with Warra nuts in it. Oh, and maybe some stew. It goes well with everything, stew does."

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes. "You're going to hover up the entire canteen one day, you know that?"

* * *

"And Master Vos? Do you like him, are you two close?" Dooku asks her, reclining on her bed as she sorts through the books. They hadn't been arranged in alphabetical order, and it was annoying her. He was annoying her too.

"We are acquainted, that is all." Luminara replies, not bothering to look at him. It's been two and a half months now since her arrival—at least that's what Dooku said, and she isn't sure why he'd lie about that—and she is getting quite sick of their daily catch-ups. He was getting increasingly interested in her relationships with the other Jedi. He'd asked her about every Jedi she could think of and a few senators too.

His nature is quite relaxed around her; she assumes this is because he wants her to relax around him. She never will, and he must know that, but he had still been trying his hardest. "What's your opinion of love, Luminara?" He asks and she tenses, giving him a glare.

"It's not a subject I know anything of. I am a Jedi, the Jedi do not love. I would have thought you'd remember that since you were once a Jedi like me." She says simply, desperately trying to banish Obi-Wan's face from her mind. If she gets too sentimental about him Dooku will be able to sense it, and that is exactly the opposite of what she wants. "And I never gave you permission to call be Luminara. Master Unduli will do just fine."

He frowns. "Oh, aren't we friends, Master Unduli?" He feigns upset, and Luminara fights the urge to slap him.

"I am your captive. We are not friends."

"Of course you'd think that. You're a Jedi." He mutters, sticking his feet up on her bed and calling on the force to knock the books she'd neatly stacked onto the shelves onto the floor. She glares at him, but says nothing, simply picking them back up. "But don't you ever wonder what it'd be like to feel something real? With another person, I mean?"

"No." She says quickly and firmly. "Jedi do not love. Love leads to anger, and anger takes you down a path you can never come back from." She looks at him then, hatred clear as day. "That's the path you stepped on years ago. I'm sure you're familiar with it."

He doesn't appear to believe her at all. _Stupid bastard,_ she thinks to herself. Though he's not stupid, and she knows it. Count Dooku had been trying to give her the impression of being omniscient, and while she knows this isn't possible, she can't help feeling like he knows something she doesn't. Though, when she thinks about it, he probably does. Because she doesn't know why he's keeping her prisoner like this, and he—unless he's gone completely mad—does. "Spoken like a true Jedi." He tells her, a grin playing over his features.

He gets up, opening the door to leave and then pausing. "I think you lie far more easily that you intend to, Master Unduli." He says. "And we all know what path that leads down..."


	2. Two

**Sorry if this took too long! Thank you so much if you reviewed, it actually means so much to me you have no idea. I literally screamed when I saw that A.C clone had** **reviewed (Lost Days of Lumi is like my fave thing ever like I am so honoured that you've read my fic)**

 **Please review this part too if you like! I'd love to hear your opinions, and I'm sorry if you think things are happening to easily. I kinda think so too, but to be honest this plot line is intricate as it is and it would be really difficult.**

* * *

Three months after Luminara Unduli's capture, the Jedi are starting to formulate a plan. A good plan.

Asajj Ventress was currently leading an attack on the planet Circarpous IV. Obi-Wan and Anakin were going to take advantage of this. Ahsoka and Barriss were going to accompany them on a mission where they needed to be completely incognito. Master Fisto was to lead a frontal attack on Ventress to distract her while the four other Jedi would take her surprise from the back, and make sure she doesn't have a chance to contact Dooku until it's too late.

They had arrived on Circapous IV just as the republic fleet appeared, and they knew Ventress would keep herself occupied with the bulk of the Republic forces. "I didn't expect this planet to be so..." Ahsoka begins, unsure of what politically correct word to use.

"Wet?" Barriss offers simply as they all walked into pouring rain.

"It isn't normally." Obi-Wan says, looking up to the sky which was grey and miserable. "I suppose this is just out luck."

"Come on guys, think positively." Anakin grins, twirling gracefully on his heel. They are all wearing traditional Circapouran attire—for Anakin and Obi-Wan it is blue robes, for Barriss and Ahsoka is red—and hoped they would blend in well enough. Obi-Wan was thankful for the amount of fabric, since it was impractical to have to hide your lightsaber in your boot (he's learnt that the hard way). "Let's find some people. We need to find out where our bald Dathomiran friend is based."

They all roll their eyes at him and make their way to a bar where they knew everyone would be talking about Ventress' invasion. Barriss had been a little nervous about entering a bar, since she was still underage and hadn't really taken part in such activities with her Master. Ahsoka was even younger than her, though, and seemed to be as comfortable in a bar as she was in the Jedi temple. Obi-Wan could only imagine what Luminara would have said to him about taking her padawan into a drinking house—but still, what could he do? A plan was a plan.

Circapous IV was a planet that consisted in a wide variety of species, a little like Coruscant, so none of them looked out of place in the bar. Anakin and Ahsoka go towards the bar, while Obi-Wan takes Barriss towards one of the tables that is half full. "Can we sit here?" Obi-Wan asks in a deeper voice than normal to the person sitting there. Obi-Wan recognises him as male Twi'lek from his burnt orange lekku. Dressed in blue robes, he is craddling a cup of Jawa Juice in his hand with a stern facial expression.

"Aye." He says, looking up to them. They sit, Barriss a little nervous, and are silent for a moment.

"You from around here?" Obi-Wan asks in the deep voice, trying to determine if his mind is weak enough that mind tricks can be used on him. This man seems lazy, but in no way an idiot.

"Aye." The man repeats, taking a sip of his beverage. "I work just round the corner." He grunts, taking another swig. "Worked."

"Worked? Let me guess. It's either an asshole boss or the bloody war." Barriss' eyes widen when she hears his language, Obi-Wan kicks her gently under the table and gives her a look that says 'act natural'. He can't really blame her though. With a master such as Luminara Unduli, one would have been taught never to cuss and that manners matter. Obi-Wan taught different lessons, which was evidently clear from the temperament of his old apprentice.

The Twi'lek smiles at that and leans back in his chair. "Second one. I'm sick of the bloody republic and whoever else fightin' around my home when I'm just tryin' to make a livin, you know?"

"D'you know anything 'bout it this time?" Obi-Wan asks. "I mean, what bugger started it now?"

"Some lass from Dathomir." The Twi'lek snorts, finishing his cup and calling for another one. "You gettin' something? The Jawa Juice ain't great but it's better than everything else. And it's strong."

"The Jawa Juice then." Obi-Wan replies, tossing a few credits across the table. The Twi'lek looks over to Barriss.

"And you?"

She looks alarmed that she's been acknowledged and Obi-Wan can feel her tense up. He puts a comforting hair on her back where the Twi'lek can't see. "Oh...no thank you."

He gives her a snort of approval and Barriss relaxes, looking to see what Anakin and Ahsoka are doing.

"Dathomir." Obi-Wan repeats, not wanting their conversation to be lost on Jawa Juice. "I heard all the mad stuff that happens there. What's one of 'em doing here?"

The Twi'lek leans in closer, Obi-Wan echos his movements. "Right, you didn't 'ere this from me." He says in a low whisper. "But word has it that she's taken all of 'em droids to the commercial building over on west side and is plannin' on taking over the planet. Ya know, all that politic stuff with Coruscant and all that. My mate Kerr is tellin' me that it won't be long before the Jedi get here with all their light sticks. But ya didn't 'ere this from me." He sticks his hands up in surrender and Obi-Wan has everything he needs. Now he needs to get out.

"Oh, I just remembered, mother told me to pick up some milk before the end of the day." Barriss says, thankfully getting the message that they needed to leave. "Normally I wouldn't ask, but could you come with me? I don't have enough credits, and I want a cookie as well."

"Right," Obi-Wan replies, nodding at her gratefully. "Well, I best be off. You can keep my Jawa Juice, mate, it's on me."

They get out of their seats and head away, signalling to Anakin and Ahsoka that they got everything they needed. Outside they go into an alley where they could discuss.

"Did you get anything?" Barriss asks, and Ahsoka shakes her head.

"No, though Master Skywalker got flirted with a lot by the bartender." Ahsoka grins and Anakin swats her arm with a scowl on his face.

"She's based in the commercial building, wherever that is." Obi-Wan tells them. "I say we wait for Master Fisto to make his move, and then we move in when she goes to intercept him, which she will. Her ship is bound to be in the commercial building and that's where we go. We can meet her there when she retreats, and hopefully take her ship smoothly and without any problems."

Anakin snorts. "When have any of our plans been 'without faults'?"

"Better idea." Ahsoka says. "How about we go straight to the ship? Then we can disable all the communications while we're there, and just wait for her to get back. It's much easier, I think. If Master Fisto is successful, she might not even realise we're there until she takes off."

Anakin grins at her. "That may be the smartest thing that's ever come out of your mouth, Snips." He turns to Barriss and Obi-Wan. "Are we all in agreement, then?"

"That works for me." Obi-Wan says, and Barriss nods. But before they can do anything though, they have the mundane task of finding out where the commercial building actually is. "And can we go quickly? I'm getting soaked here." The rain was still drenching them; which was fine for the others, since Ahsoka didn't have hair and Barriss had a covering (and Anakin didn't seem to care) but Obi-Wan wasn't in the mood to catch a fever mid-mission.

They go out into the street and look for a sign or something to find the Commerical building to no avail. Without warning, Barriss goes up to a stranger. Obi-Wan reaches out to stop her but Ahsoka holds him back. "Wait." She whispers. "I think Barriss might have an idea."

"I'm ever so sorry ma'am," Barriss starts. "I'm new to this planet, you see, and I've lost my mother and I can't find her. Could you possibly tell me where the Commerical building is? I think she might try and meet me there." As she talks, Obi-Wan realises that he had forgotten that both her and Ahsoka are only fourteen. They just seem so much older, so much more mature that a normal fourteen year old would be. Barriss has lost her Master, the closest thing to family she had (something Obi-Wan can sympathise with entirely) at such a young age. Obi-Wan was 17 when Qui-Gon was killed. He can't begin to imagine how poor Barriss must be feeling.

"Oh, you poor thing." The woman Barriss approached replies. "Of course I can. When you get to the end of this street, take a left and then follow your nose. You can't miss it. Though I wouldn't stay near there for long, sweetheart, last I heard there were droids with blasters round that area."

"Thank you ma'am!" She says brightly, and then signals for the others to follow her as she walks.

"You're getting good at this." Ahsoka tells her with a grin as Barriss giggles about it. They go on ahead a few metres while Anakin and Obi-Wan hang back.

They walk in silence while Ahsoka and Barriss giggling in front of them. It's a comfortable silence—a mutual understanding that their mission is an important one and not to be taken lightly. Obi-Wan wonders how Anakin is feeling, he was always so headstrong and it must be strenuous for him knowing that other people's lives were at stake, not just machines that he could cut up with his lightsaber.

Barriss gave them a look, so they caught up. "Can you see the building?" Anakin asks her. "Is that it?" He points to the largest one he can see.

She nods. "Yes. But I don't think it'd be wise if we just walk right in through the front door."

Obi-Wan turns on his communicator. "Master Fisto, can you hear me?" He says.

"Loud and clear, Master Kenobi."

"Are you engaged with her yet?" He asks.

"No. But we're starting to get some droids coming at us." Kit Fisto replies. "It won't be long before she makes her own appearance. You know she can't resist this kind of battle—ever a show off."

"Okay. We'll move in soon." Obi-Wan turns the communicator off and looks over to the others. "And now we wait."

"And now we wait." Anakin repeats, leaning against a run-down looking building. It isn't long before they hear a big explosion and the crashing of two lightsabers, and deem it a good time to get into the Commercial building. The building itself isn't the grand central building Obi-Wan had expected—the outside paint chipped, and some of the windows so dirty that they could no longer be classified as transparent. No aesthetically pleasing, but a good base point for Ventress in terms of strategy.

Appearing to be normal citizens, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka and Barriss sneak round the back of the building (they get shot at a bit, but really, that just added to the mix of nerves and, for some of them, excitement). "Well." Anakin says once they are successfully at the back door. "I think that went quite well."

Obi-Wan sighs and walks up to the door, only to find it's locked. "It's locked."

"Don't worry, I got it." Ahsoka replies, getting her lightsaber and cutting a surprisingly symmetrical whole in the wall.

"Well done, snips." Anakin pats her on the shoulder and they all go inside, very aware that the ship was probably under a lot of security. "So, where do you think the ship is?"

"I don't know, maybe the landing bay?" Ahsoka sticks her tongue out at him.

"We don't have time for this." Barriss tells them, channelling her inner Luminara which makes Obi-Wan feel sentimental. "We need to find a staircase, lift or something. Come _on._ "

Anakin and Ahsoka shut up and everyone follows Barriss through another door, to what appeared to be the main lobby. There were droids by all the lifts and the front doors, which did not surprise Obi-Wan at all. "Well then." He says, taking his blade out and letting it's gentle hum calm him. "I think out cover is blown."

"Jedi!" One of droids says, pointing his blaster and beginning the full on assault. The Jedi were on them like a shot, cutting through them like it was nothing. Obi-Wan may not have agreed with all the ways of the Jedi Order, but he did have to admit one thing. They definitely did a good job of teaching self-defence.

The rush of adrenaline they had all gotten left them all with grins on their faces. "Round one to the Jedi." Ahsoka smirks, and calls the lift.

"Are we really taking the lift? Wouldn't it be easier to take the stairs?" Obi-Wan asks, wondering if he's really this old that he's be preaching to take the stairs.

"Because the floor with the landing bay will probably be labelled." Barriss replies for her, stepping in as the metal doors open. The first thing that came into Obi-Wan's head when he stepped inside was that this place definitely needed to be redone, but more than that, it really had an awful smell. Like Anakin when he hasn't showered for a few weeks (which used to happen far too frequently).

With a smug smile, Ahsoka selected the fifth floor that was labelled 'landing bay' and used the force to close the lift doors before they shut manually. Obi-Wan wonders how many droids would be by the ship. There were only regular battle droids at the bottom, supposedly because someone might have just strolled in thinking they were going to work and didn't want to get a full frontal attack from 200 droids (that probably would have been more detrimental to the Circapouran cause than helpful).

When the lift doors opened Obi-Wan was not surprised to see regular B1 battle droids accompanied by Super Battle droids, and a dozen droidekas with their force fields up around them. The ship was there though, so that was a positive. "Oh, this should be fun." Anakin smirks and ignites his lightsaber.

Obi-Wan begins with the droidekas, purely because they bothered him the most, sprinting up to them with Barriss close behind him. His blade was like part of his arm as it moved with a natural fluidity which had taken years to perfect.

He sticks his blade out while one of them tried to move, reducing it to rubble as it rolls through the blue blade, and watches Barriss get another one from the behind. The blade slices through several battle droids that had seen fit to stop Obi-Wan in his tracks, and he notices Ahsoka and Anakin occupied with some Super battle droids. He flips over to Barriss, helping her, feeling the plasma blade kiss metal. "Anakin, behind you!" He calls, seeing a droideka rolling up behind his past apprentice.

"Thanks Master!" Anakin shouts back, striking it down and turning his focus back in front of him.

It's all done within ten minutes, but it feels like an hour.

Time slows down in a battle.

They all rush onto the ship and get to work. Ahsoka disables all communication systems while the others give the ship a visual scan, making sure there's nothing she can spring on them. "I think we're all good." Anakin says, sitting back in the pilots chair lazily. "Does anyone was to see if there's any food?"

"We're on a rescue mission, Anakin, not snack time." Obi-Wan sighs, massaging his temples to try and stop the headache that's forming.

Anakin shrugs. "I'm hungry though."

"Do you really want to eat Ventress's food?" Ahsoka asks.

He pulls a face at the thought. "When you put it that way, I'm actually alright. She's from Dathomir, they eat all kinds of weird things. Senator Amidala once told me that the Nightsisters ate their dead."

Ahsoka snorts. "That is _not_ true." The young Togruta crosses her arms and falls down in the pilot chair opposite her Master.

Anakin sticks his hands up in surrender. "Don't shoot the messenger."

Barriss turns her communicator on— clearly not at all amused by Anakin and Ahsoka's conversation."Master Fisto? Can you hear me?" She says.

"Yes padawan." Kit's voice replies through the communicator. "We've gotten through the majority of her forces and she's started to retreat. I don't think she expected quite so many of us."

"We're in her ship. I hope to see with my Master alive and well soon."

"As do I, padawan. As do I. Master Luminara's presence has been sorely missed."

Obi-Wan can't help but tell the mention of her Master's name saddens Barriss. The relationship between Master and padawan is the closest thing to parent and child a Jedi ever feels and he knows that Barriss is as close to Luminara as he is to Anakin. "Are you alright, Barriss?" He asks in a soft tone.

She nods quickly. "Yeah. The sooner we can get my Master, the better, right?"

"Right." Anakin nods. Obi-Wan's communicator goes off and he answers it.

"Master Kenobi?" Kit Fisto says.

"Master Fisto—has something happened?"

"She's in a full retreat now. I repeat, she's in a full retreat. Get ready." They can hear the sound of his lightsaber clashing with droid bodies through the communicator, and it only succeeds in making Obi-Wan more nervous. Asajj Ventress was a formidable foe, but he knew she couldn't take four Jedi at once. No, it wasn't that that made him anxious.

What bothered him was the fact this might be his only chance to get Luminara back. If they mess it up, the security on Serenno would only increase (though, really, Obi-Wan wasn't sure how they'd go about making it more severe), and Luminara might be lost to him...forever.

And then they heard it. The dry, low, commanding voice that sounded cruel without even trying, though this time she seemed out of breath. "And get back to the front. My Master won't be happy about this!" She was commanding. Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka and Barriss were hiding in the stores cupboard so they could catch her by surprise. It was very claustrophobic, especially since Anakin's elbow was in his face.

He could only imagine Luminara laughing when he'd tell her this story.

Ventress sits in the pilot's seat, tapping the controls and cursing (probably because Ahsoka's messed most of them up) and preparing to take off. The side of the building goes up and she shoots into the air, presumably because Kit was firmly on her tail. Anakin falls on him in the cupboard, with an innocent grin that says 'sorry Master', and Obi-Wan rolls his eyes at him. He seems to be doing that a lot at the moment. Though, really, he always has.

One they are sure they're out of the planet's atmosphere, they finally allow themselves out of the cupboard. Anakin uses the force to literally removed the doors from their hinges (he always had flair for the dramatic) and gives a shocked Ventress a smirk. "Long time no see."

"Skywalker." She groans, putting the ship in autopilot and igniting her lightsaber. "I see you've brought your friends."

He ignites his own blade. "Can we not have a physical fight today? I much more in the mood for a nice chat."

"We aren't going to kill you." Obi-Wan says more diplomatically. "You could help us, you know. You don't need to fight us."

She sneers. "And why would I do that?"

"Because your Master is evil." Ahsoka says it like it's obvious. Obi-Wan makes a mental note to teach her the meaning of the word diplomacy if they get out of this alive.

Instead of using words, Ventress strikes both her blades at once, one at Anakin and one at Obi-Wan. Both are blocked, and Anakin pushes her back, feeling the blades clash dangerously near her throat. "Stop!" Barriss cries, and everyone gives her a strange look. "She's too powerful."

Anakin gives her a look of extreme offense, but she ignores him. "Don't you see? She's becoming even more powerful that Dooku, this is his plan. He wants to get rid of her, she's just his little assassin that he can play with until he gets bored!"

"Stop talking!" Ventress cries, swiping at her, but Barriss blocks her easily while maintaining her shocked appearance.

"That's why we aren't going to kill you." Barriss continues. "Because to him, you're nothing. No, he's got another in mind to replace you."

He can see that she's hiding it, but Obi-Wan senses Ventress getting tense. "I'm not nothing. My Master would never give up on me, Jedi scum." She spits, swiping again at Barriss's stomach. Blocked.

"He has my Master on Serenno. She's one of the most powerful Jedi in the order, and she'll be your replacement. Why else would he keep her captive this long without killing her, Ventress? Your time as apprentice is as long as my Master's will is." Obi-Wan is genuinely impressed by Barriss' ability to talk Ventress into fear. He finds himself almost believing it himself, though he knows that isn't the reason. It appears her words were equally as persuasive to Ventress.

"How do I know you're not lying?" She replies, though it's clear she's wavering now.

"Because you know he has her. And you know she still isn't dead. What other reason would there be?" Barriss is able to keep a completely cool head throughout everything, and Obi-Wan can literally see Luminara shining through her. She was always one to talk during a fight, mainly because stopping a battle with words was often more practical that using a lightsaber. Though she was a talent with a lightsaber too.

Ventress deactivates her lightsaber and puts her head in her hands, eyes wide open. "It can't be..."

"It is." Anakin confirms. "Now are you going to help us, or let your Master cast you a death sentence?"

* * *

She knows it now. Luminara Unduli isn't stupid, she's 'in the loop'.

Count Dooku had laughed at her when she said it. Everything was clearer now. The comfortable room, the promise of anything she desired (almost) and the constant questions about the company she kept within the Jedi Order. She isn't entirely sure how she hadn't seen it before—thought really, she hadn't even thought it possible.

She is lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling now, letting the tears fall and soak the sheets. Her whole life had been set out to protect the innocent, but she can't protect the innocent around her this time. It was all a waiting game.

Luminara had been praying for rescue before, but now she willed it with every fibre of her being. She needed to leave this place, get somewhere safe where should could deal with her problem in a suitable and proper manner. But no, she was stuck in a bedroom filled with cameras and scented soaps.

Before she had justified it in her mind with 'it could be worse'. It could no longer be worse; there was nothing worse than what he was doing to her. It had all just been mind games before, but now there was a third party and it became so terribly cruel that Luminara hadn't even been able to wrap her mind around it to begin with.

At this point, she was the only thing standing between Dooku and the Chosen One. And she only could for so long.

But this person, who was supposed to bring balance to the force, would be the most powerful force sensitive the universe had ever seen. This she knew from when everyone had believed it to be Anakin, she had seen the pressure and pain he endured trying to live up to something that appeared impossible to all. She could feel that power around her already, could sense it building around her.

For her child, her child with Obi-Wan was the prophesied one. Her stomach was still flat, but there was a gentle swelling beginning over her abdomen, and she knew what was happening.

This child was her own blood, the most important thing to her, and it had been sought after since the day of conception. That was no life for a baby, and Luminara knew it.

She had considered self-abortion to save her child from this awful life. There had been cases before when she'd seen things like it— Barriss was training to be a healer so they'd spent a lot of time in the med-bay. Women had drank heavy alchohol, sliced themselves open just to get rid of an unwanted foetus, and while Luminara would have done so herself to save her child from a life of torment, Dooku had anticipated it. There was nothing she _could_ use for self-abortion.

So she lay on her bed, crying, letting her fingers dances over the beginnings on her baby. "I'm sorry." She whispers. "I am so sorry for causing this horror for you, please forgive me, my child."

It was entirely her fault. If she hadn't been so reckless, if she had just stuck to the code she wouldn't be in this position. But no, she'd gone against it, and now she was stuck. The karma would have been funny if it wasn't so endlessly tragic.

He opens her door, with a grin on his face. "I saw that you were a little sad. I brought you a tissue." He throws the little piece of paper towards her. She can feel how much he was enjoying this, the victory he feels with just a glance at her tears.

"I hate you." She whispers, glaring at him. She brings her hands up and calls upon the force to throw him across the room, he hits the wall with a bang and a groan. Luminara wonders if that should have made her feel anything, any happiness or more anger, but she just feels dead inside.

"A little rough, Lumi." He says, standing up and rubbing his neck. "I'll blame it on the hormones."

She continues to glare at him. "It's not all bad." He adds. "Just think about it. You're getting an ickle baby. Think about it, Lumi. Come on. There must be some maternal side to the blatant deception and whoring that is your personality."

"Stop calling me Lumi." She says with a menacing tone she didn't know she had. "I'm not a whore. And this isn't a positive situation because I don't get a baby, _you_ get the Chosen One to manipulate with your disgusting and morally outrageous beliefs."

"Perceptive as ever." He winks. Luminara stands up and walks up to him, fury seeping out of every pore in her body. She punches him square in the jaw like she had imagined him doing so many times, using the force to slam him against the wall, harder, holding him there this time. She knows there's no point, but she also knows he can't hit her back for fear of hurting the baby, so she continues. Willing him to feel an inch of the pain she feels.

Instead, he laughs. "That's not really the Jedi way, is it now?" She wonders if she'd ever forgive herself if she force-choked him.

* * *

The Jedi council were in a meeting, discussing none other than Luminara Unduli. Yoda knew that she had been good friends with some members of the council, Shaak Ti in particular since they'd been brought in as younglings in the same year and had always been close. She'd had good relations with all of the Jedi— in fact, Yoda couldn't think of a single person Master Unduli _hadn't_ gotten along with. "News, I have. Too dangerous to inform Master Kenobi, it was." Yoda began, the eyes of the council members observing him curiously. "Seen things, I have. Terrible things."

"You say Master Unduli is on Serenno." Plo Koon says. "If so, then how is it that she is still living?"

Yoda is silent for a moment, debating what will be the more subtle way to break the news. "Lying the night before her capture, the key is." He begins. He'd already spoken to Mace about it, and looked at him to continue.

"That night Master Unduli broke the Jedi code." Mace says quite plainly, receiving a gasp from everyone else.

"She wouldn't do that!" Shaak Ti protests. "Everyone here who knows Luminara knows that she was the model Jedi. I cannot believe that she would to such a thing."

There are a few more similar protests, Mace and Yoda wait until the comments die down to continue. "Know the circumstances, we do not." Yoda says calmly.

"We don't know why, but somehow, with someone, Master Unduli conceived a child that night." Mace said in a firm no-interruptions voice. "This child, we have foreseen, will be the Chosen One. We were late in this revelation, however, and it appears Count Dooku discovered this before the conception. That is why he had taken Master Unduli captive, and that is why she is not dead."

There is a pause, everyone soaking the information in. "Do Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker know any of this?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asks.

"More importantly, does Luminara know this?" Shaak adds, forgetting formalities and using her friend's given name.

"Kenobi and Skywalker are unaware. They left before we knew, and we feel that they have more chance of completing their mission without the added pressure of the chosen one." Mace says to Adi, and then turns to Shaak. "As for Master Unduli, I do not know. It's been three months though, I'd assume she'd have guessed if she hasn't been told."

"And who is the father?" Saesee Tiin asks.

Mace knits his fingers together. "We don't know. It could be anyone who was on Geonosis with her. Though we do know it's not a Geonosian, since their gametes aren't compatible."

"Oh course it's not a Geonosian!" Shaak cries. "She might have broken the code, but she isn't blind! I mean, _come on,_ have you ever seen a Geonosian? They look like what would happen if a Night Sister cast a spell on a beetle to give it half the intelligence of a newborn!"

Even Piell, who was sitting on her left, whacked her on the arm and gave her a look that said 'shut up'. She didn't really care though, because Luminara was her friend, and everything they were saying was so out of character. And even if she had broken the code and been intimate with someone, even the notion of it being with a _Geonosian_ was preposterous.

"I think there is one thing was can take from this." Plo Koon says, calm as ever. "Master Unduli must be rescued, no matter what, before the child arrives. Let us pray that Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi can carry out this task, if not, then I volunteer myself to complete second rescue mission."

"I second that." Shaak raises her hand.

"They haven't failed yet. Last I heard from Master Fisto, everything has gone smoothly." Mace replies. "However, in light of the delicacy of this, I believe it would be practical to have reinforcements at the ready. Master Plo, Master Ti, you shall follow Skywalker and Kenobi as far as you can safely and await their call for help should that be necessary. Council dismissed."

* * *

Ahsoka was fixing the communication, she was quite the budding engineer, so that they could contact the council. Ventress had allowed them to tie her to a chair, since she was so devout of will. If she hadn't known any better, Ahsoka might have felt sorry for her. With a grin, she gets the comlink working again, and calls the others.

"Good work, snips." Anakin says, patting her shoulder and smirking.

Obi-Wan turns it on and Master Ti and Master Plo respond straight away. "Master Plo, Master Ti." Obi-Wan says. "Our mission had been successful so far. Ventress had relented and agreed to aid us, though we are sceptical of her loyalty." Some colourful language could be heard from her on the other side of the room, Ahsoka could see Shaak Ti smirk through the comlink.

"Good, good." She replies, her hologram crossing it's arms. "Master Plo and I are to act as your reinforcements on the orders of Master Windu. Can you give us your coordinates, we're about to leave Coruscant."

"Yep, I'm sending you them now." Ahsoka says, sending the coordinates to Coruscant. "We're on a course to Serenno, though it'll take longer than I thought if we want to approach unnoticed."

"What do you mean?" Barriss asks.

"Well, if we just go through hyperspace and get there quickly, they'll see us strait away and then we'll be screwed. We going to have to take the traditional route and travel to Serenno at a regular speed so the ship isn't seen as out of place. Once we get to fleet outside, Ventress, that is if she cooperates, can tell Dooku that she was captured by us and taken for questioning, and that it is urgent that they talk immediately." She pauses to make sure everyone is catching up.

"That isn't a bad plan." Plo says through the comlink. "I'll inform Master Windu and make sure everyone knows we've captured Ventress on Circapous IV—make a big political scene of it to make sure the message gets to Count Dooku."

Anakin turns to Ahsoka. "Though how long will it take us to get to Serenno the traditional way?"

She smiles innocently. "I don't know for sure, but from what we saw on the starcharts I'd estimate about a month."

They notice that Plo and Shaak seem disturbed by this through the comlink. "Is something wrong?" Obi-Wan asks them.

"No, not at all." Shaak replies. "It's only, we're probably going have stock our ship with food for you if you're going to be in that ship for a month."

"That would be helpful, thank you." Anakin smiles. He wasn't in any mood to eat whatever food Ventress had in her ship, if there actually was any. Not since he's heard Padme talk about Dathomiran cannibalism.

"How long do you think it'll take you to get here?" Obi-Wan asks them.

Plo seems to be looking at a clock, and then turns back to them. "I think we could be there by tomorrow morning, if we're fast."

"That's great." Anakin nods. "See you then." He turns the comlink off and turns back to the others. "Now, how are we going to stop ourselves getting bored to death for the next month? I'd suggest playing some sort of game, but something tells me there won't be anything fun on our Dathomiran friend's ship."

* * *

Luminara is in a rocking chair, holding her sleeping baby. It is a moment of such bliss that she can't help the single tear of joy that falls down her cheek. "Luminara?" She sees that door open and Obi-Wan comes in, smiling when he sets eyes on the beautifully domestic scene.

"Shh!" She laughs. "I only just got him to sleep."

He comes over to her and they share a brief kiss before looked at the perfect little creature in her arms. She notices that the baby has human skin like Obi-Wan, but hair black as coal like her own. He seems so peaceful, so tranquil, and with her love by her side it is everything she has ever dreamed.

Dreamed.

She knows that this cannot be real, it's all just a figment of her imagination. But it's the happiest she's felt in months, and she'll hang onto it for all she's worth.

Getting up from the rocking chair, Luminara lays her son down in a nearby crib and turns back to Obi-Wan. He wraps his arms around her and she looks into his eyes, feeling her heart explode with joy as their lips meet. "I love you." She whispers, crying again.

But she's not crying because she's happy anymore. She's crying because she can feel herself drifting back into consciousness, feel reality coming back to her.

Luminara had grown _sick_ of reality.

It's a continuous pattern. She wakes every morning, Dooku brings her breakfast and tastes it for her to prove that it's not poisoned. Sometimes he stays and watches her eat, or eats with her, and sometimes he doesn't. She'll then proceed to change into combat clothes and spend a couple of hours with the punching bag, then shower, and maybe re-read one of the books. Then Dooku will come with lunch. Sometimes he brings two portions and eats with her, sometimes he doesn't.

In the afternoon he has taken to sending her something to do, he says it's to make sure she doesn't get so mind numbingly bored that the baby comes out retarded. She knows this isn't true, she knows that when he isn't in the room with her or doing whatever else it is Count Dooku does with his day, he's watching her through the cameras, seeing how she reacts to the 'gifts' he gives her. It sickens her.

When she wakes he is already there, breakfast tray on the floor, with an artistically wrapped box on his lap. The need to throw him against the wall again flickers through her mind, but she banishes the idea since, quite frankly, she can't bothered. "Wakey wakey." He smirks. "Did you sleep well, Lumi?"

He had taken to calling her Lumi, and no matter how many times she told him stop he continued. It shouldn't bother her the way it does, but he has really figured out how to get under her skin. "My name is Luminara, and it's Master Unduli to you. Miss Unduli if you must, but calling me 'Lumi' is entirely inappropriate."

"Alright." He replies brushing it off. "I've bought you a present. Would you like to open it?"

"No, thank you." She says, standing up and going over to the wardrobe where she selects a tunic, headdress and undergarments.

He raises an eyebrow at her. "Nice bra. Does it fit?"

She glares. "It isn't a bra, it's a tie. It would fit anyone. Clearly you put a lot of thought into this wardrobe before purchasing everything."

"I didn't do it, one of my droids took your measurements while you were unconscious." He says coolly. "Now please open the present. I even wrapped it up myself, I'm very proud of it."

She raises an eyebrow at him. "Really?"

He sighs. "No. But I am still proud of it. Please?"

"You can open it." She says. "I'm going to get changed in the bathroom." She goes into the bathroom with the clothes in her hand; the door doesn't lock, but she hopes he has the decency to leave her be. Fortunately, he does, but that doesn't really say much when she'd getting changed on camera anyway.

When she comes out, she unsurprised to find he's still there, in the armchair, the present now on the floor too. "You're looking gorgeous today, might I say?"

She gives him a very unladylike snort. "Yeah, sure. Now can you please eat some of that porridge before I do?"

"I'll try it when you open the present."

With a sigh, she picks up the present. It's a box wrapped blue paper and a white ribbon, and looking at it she is completely unsurprised that he didn't wrap it. It's done far too well for any living creature to have done, definitely the work of a droid.

Neatly, she removed the paper to reveal an opaque plastic box. "Thank you for the box." She says. "Can you please try the porridge now.

He shakes his head, he looks so excited that it makes her slightly nervous. "Open the box. Go on."

Muttering a curse under her breath, she pulls the lid off only to reveal a slightly smaller wrapped box inside. "Wow. Haha." She drones sarcastically. "I always took you as a much more mature man, if I'm honest."

An actual laugh escapes his lips— if she hadn't known better she'd have called it sincere. "Now open that one."

"It's another box, isn't it?"

"Oh, you are a clever Jedi." He smirks. "But there is something at the end of all the boxes. I promise. And then I'll test the porridge for you, and I might even add a little sugar to sweeten it up."

The word 'boxes' tells her that she's going to be opening for a while, but she opts to open them all quickly so he'll leave and she can eat. Apparently having a child inside you made you hungrier. Once she gets to the seventh box—yes, _seventh_ —she sees his face light up and assumes this is the last one.

Inside what looks like a tiny comlink, and she's not naïve enough to think his gift is a little chat with her Jedi friends, so she gives him a confused look.

"Do you like it?"

"I'm not sure why you've given me this." She frowns, looking at it from all angles.

"Turn it on." He says, giddy in the armchair. _He's like an excitable child._

She isn't sure that she wants to, but knows he won't leave until he can see her reaction, so does as he says. The hologram is of a foetus—her foetus, she assumes, since he probably doesn't keep that many around—just still. It's not old enough to be moving yet (yes, she does have a basic knowledge of foetus development from Barriss, though she gave up listening past month 4), and in truth it's not something she wants to be looking at, so she turns it off and sets it on her bedside table. Looking up at him, she says "Porridge."

The giddy look is gone and if anything he looks disappointed with her reaction, so he eats a spoonful of porridge and leaves.

Luminara eats the porridge, thinking that she's just seen her child for the first time. And then the dreaded thought dawned upon her.

"How the hell is he getting a hologram from inside my uterus?"

* * *

It was week 2 in the ship, and Obi-Wan really wanted a shower.

It wasn't that he was dirty at all, he had learnt years ago that through meditation he could keep his body from deteriorating through the force, but he missed the feeling of water against his skin.

But even more than that, he missed Luminara, so the shower could wait.

Ventress had been difficult to deal with to start with, since they couldn't just keep her tied to a chair for a month. They'd considered just pawning her off on Shaak and Plo but soon realised that probably was a bit harsh on both parties. She was so depressed about Dooku that it was almost painful to watch, she wouldn't stop moping, telling stories about how her Master was so unfair to her and she'd always been mistreated. Barriss Offee had broken Asajj Ventress. She deserved a medal for that, Obi-Wan thought.

"What do you thinks happening to my Master right now?" Barriss asks him quietly. The others were asleep, they took it turns since Ventress was still on the ship and, despite her extreme change of character, was still unpredictable.

"I don't know." Obi-Wan replies. Barriss had become something similar to a padawan for him over the past three and a half months, he had gotten to know her properly. While at a first glance she was studious and serious, Obi-Wan had seen a completely different side to her. She was extremely bright, with an initiative to be envied and an analytical mind that meant to could resolve the majority of issues with her voice and not violence. And when violence did break out, she was impressive with a lightsaber. She'd definitely been a good influence on Ahsoka, since she wasn't learning very many diplomatic skills from Anakin. "But your Master is the strongest person I know, and she'll get through this. You'll see."

Barriss nods, biting her lip. "It's strange; I can't hear her voice in my mind anymore. I know it, but it's sort of muffled now because I haven't seen her so long. Before I could hear her everywhere around me, reminding me of her lessons, helping me get through everything day to day. I'm worried that I'm forgetting her. Do you think...maybe she'll have forgotten me?"

"No." Obi-Wan says strait away. "There is absolutely no way she's forgotten you, you meant a lot to her. More than you think." He puts a comforting hand on Barriss' shoulder. "You're a Jedi, Barriss, and the relationship between Master and padawan is the closest thing to family that we get." He pauses, thinking of what he could say to distract her. "My master was Qui-Gon Jinn. Have you heard of him?"

"I think so." Barriss says. "He was the man who found Master Skywalker, was he not?"

"He was." Obi-Wan agrees. "He was the best man I ever knew. Once, when I was just starting out as a padawan, he took me to Mandalore, a planet in the Outer Rim. When I asked him why, he simply said 'to learn' and nothing else. We'd sit in our rooms for weeks and he wouldn't tell me what we were doing there, so eventually I grew bored and adventured out myself." He smiles, recalling the memory.  
"Mandalore had a duchess ruling over it, a woman called Satine Kryze. She was amazing when I knew her, she'd tell me all of Mandalore's secrets and at night I'd go out onto the streets and find out what I could to aid her." He stops, though Barriss' facial expression is practically begging him to continue the story so he does. "And eventually we discovered a plot to overthrow her. When I told my Master, he smiled and said 'Well done, padawan. Your mission is complete.' I was so confused, but it turns out he already knew of the plot and was waiting for me to use my own initiative and work things out on my own, not rely on someone to tell me what to do. He is the reason I'm the man I am today, and I trained Anakin the best I could to ensure his memory lived on."

"He sounds like a great man." Barriss smiles. "My relationship with Master is different. We didn't get along at all to begin with."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He can't ever remember a time when Luminara and Barriss were close.

She nods. "The first time we met I was so shy and worried about letting her down. Every time she took me on a mission she'd get so frustrated because when she asked for my opinion on things and I'd just repeat what she had said." Barriss laughs, and Obi-Wan smiles with her. It was sweet to hear her laugh. "She eventually took me to the side and told me that she wanted me to lead a mission without her help, because she knew I could be a good Jedi on my own and didn't need to hide my opinions behind anyone."

"Your Master was very wise. She saw the truth in you." Obi-Wan says.

"Thank you Master Kenobi." Barriss replies. "But she made me everything that I am. She's the best Master I could have asked for." There is a pause, Barriss looks to the ground and bites her lip. "I only hope that I don't let her down."

"I've sure she's an excellent Master. And you couldn't let her down on this mission, Barriss. Luminara would be so proud of you." He smiles at her—a real smile, for the first time in a while, not the kind he puts on for civility. "I've known her for a very long time, and can firmly say that she's one of my best friends." _Best friend and love of my life._

"That's good to hear." Barriss says. "I'd like it if we could work together more once we get her back."

"I'd like that too."

* * *

"Baby names? Come on, Lumi, you must have some." Dooku says, leaning back in the armchair with a twinkle in his eyes. She was slowly tearing pieces of a piece of bread and eating it, regarding him with a glare and nothing more. "What will be the chosen one's name? I'd choose myself, but honestly this is more a woman's department."

She swallows a chunk of bread and sighs. "Sexism isn't an attractive quality."

"What about Kiro? I like that, yes, Kiro. Kira for a girl." He ignores her comment.

"I'm assuming I don't get to see this child, so you can call it what you want. I'm just the surrogate to you." She says, though it hurts. She doesn't just want to be the surrogate. She wants to be a mother. But it appears she has no choice.

His nose twitches. "No, actually, I'm off Kiro. Come on, Lumi. Give me a suggestion. As a well behaved surrogate."

"I don't know." She says, trying not to focus on the bread instead of him, for she knows she'll cry if she lets herself think any more about the child that isn't hers.

"Maybe you could name it after the father." Her head shoots up then. He'd inquired about the father before indirectly, but hadn't said anything completely transparently.

"See, at first I thought it was Anakin Skywalker." He says and she can feel the anger building up inside her. "He was close to being the chosen one, so it would make sense that his child was the next one." He pauses for dramatic effect. "And then I realised it probably wasn't him, because if the great Jedi Master Luminara Unduli was going to let anyone knock her up it probably wouldn't be an post-adolescent idiot.  
"So my second idea was Ki-Adi-Mundi, since he was on Geonosis with you too, and he's allowed to...mate." The term 'mate' makes her choke on her bread. "But to be honest I think he's too uptight to mate with anyone that wasn't in his own species. Especially a _Mirialan._ "

She coughs a few times to clear her throat and then cracks her knuckles as she glares. "So you're a racist and a sexist. What is wrong with Mirialans?"

"Well...your sort of green. And your face is all tattooed." He looks oddly sympathetic. "Why are there tattoos on your face? They make you look a bit rough."

"Because in Mirial it is a custom to be tattooed when one achieves certain things." She says coolly.

"It isn't doing you any favours. Though I suppose Master Kenobi must be into that kind of thing." He smirks when she gives him a shocked look. "I knew it! It's his, isn't it?"

"No."

He pouts. "Don't lie now, Lumi. I get what you see in him, that hair, and those eyes. Yummy." She chokes again when he says that. "But really, was he worth all this? Do you think it was worth all this? Would you go back and tell yourself to keep in your pants, if you could?"

Luminara slaps him and goes into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. And Count Dooku grins like a cat.

* * *

It was finally time—they could see Serenno in the distance. This was what everything boiled down to.

Ventress was sitting in the pilot seat as they approached the Separatist fleet outside Serenno. Ahsoka was crouched behind her seat with a gun in case they were betrayed, and Anakin had Ventress' lightsabers. "This is Asajj Ventress requesting permission to land." She says.

"Ship scanning in progress." A robotic voice replied. They knew that they'd find four extra life forms on the ship—but they'd already prepared themselves for that inevitability. "Four external life forms located. Explain."

"They're rebels from Coruscant. They helped me to escape the Jedi." Ventress said raspily. "Hyreth Kryn, Alio Mereli, Deeri Elanda and Nerina Milarn. They seek refuge from Count Dooku, and I agreed to take them here in return for their loyalty."

There is silence. Ahsoka holds her breath, wondering if they've done enough to get through. When she hears Ventress cursing, she realises that, in fact, no. They haven't done enough.

She runs into the med-room where the others were with a panicked look on her face. "They haven't let us through. I think they're going to board the ship."

Obi-Wan turns his comlink strait away. "Master Ti, Master Plo? Can you hear me, I repeat, can you hear me?"

Shaak Ti appears through the comlink. "I can hear you Master Kenobi."

"We aren't going to make it through, they won't let us. Ahsoka thinks they're going to try and board the ship." Before she can reply the ship shudders and the side hatch is prised open. They can here the heavy clang of droid footsteps against the floor, knowing that in a matter of minutes they'll all probably be in cells. _This is exactly what wasn't supposed to happen. Oh Force._ The comlink goes off and Ahsoka takes a deep breath.

"Okay." Anakin whispers to them. "I have a plan." He gestures for them to follow him and goes out to greet the battle droids. "I'm Alio Mereli, but you can call me Al." Anakin sticks his hand out for the droid to shake.

"These are my friends, we aided Asajj Ventress in her escape from the Jedi. We were hoping to arrange a meeting with Count Dooku to discuss relocation."

The droid looks at them silently for a moment. "You may discuss relocation with him. But we can't let you on the planet."

Anakin feigns offence. "But why? I'm a personal man, you see, I like do everything face to face." Ahsoka can literally see Ventress rolling her eyes as Anakin speaks, and resists the urge to laugh.

"Count Dooku is currently housing a guest. He is not to be disturbed under any circumstances." The droid tells him. "If you wish to speak to him, them come with me."

The droid leads them to a room with a large comlink, they all know that the second Dooku sees them they'll be imprisoned. If anything, Ahsoka's surprised the droids didn't have them searched— they'd have found lightsabers. Dooku's forces were getting sloppy.

"Count Dooku cannot talk with you now. He is busy." A different droid enters the room, a tactical droid from the looks of it. "The Confederacy of Independent Systems will be happy to house you until he is available."

Ahsoka knew that they were walking on very thin ice, but still, she felt strangely proud. They had done well to get this far, right?

* * *

4 months into her pregnancy, Luminara noticed the proper bump. Before there had been a little swelling, but nothing indifferent to what happened at 'that time of the month'. Not that Luminara had had her period in years—it was impractical as a Jedi so all female Jedi were given medication to stop the blood. She had still gotten cramps at times, though, and apparently that medication didn't count as contraception.

But now it was really showing. It was the second trimester (or at least that's what Dooku had told her—she actually had very little clue about anything pregnancy, baby and child related) which meant that that the baby was starting to look moderately person shaped.

And as much as she kept telling herself to not get sentimental about it, Luminara couldn't help having this deep primal urge to protect her unborn child. She was a Jedi, her whole life she'd been training to protect people who couldn't protect themselves, and yet when it was _her_ person she could do nothing. The irony.

Dooku had given her several books about gestation and raising a child (the latter only to salt to the wound), but she hadn't touched them. She hadn't even put them on the bookshelf, she didn't want to think about that. She thought of Obi-Wan, wherever he was, and her dream of their perfect little family, pictured his arms around her and could almost feel it if she tried hard enough.

Were the Jedi still looking for her? She doubted it. They'd probably assumed she was dead by now, as she would be after the child was born. _Oh Barriss,_ she thought. _Be strong, my Padawan._

The days were often hard to get through, the painstaking routine, the only part she moderately enjoyed was working out in the morning, but she ached to spar with her lightsaber instead. The nights were by far worse though. She kept picturing this little boy—human skin like Obi-Wan, with her eyes and hair—talking to her, being around her like mother and son, only to wake up and realise that none of it was real and her real child was already claimed by someone else.

 _Oh someone save me, help me, kill me, please._

* * *

It was another waiting game, and they all knew it.

They'd all been given a room together—Ventress had her own as she came here a lot, apparently—they all knew it was only a matter of time before they were discovered. Obi-Wan had wanted to contact Shaak and Plo, but he knew they'd be intercepted and everything would be revealed sooner. If only there was some way, some method he could use to jump of the cruiser and land next to Luminara, taking her away to safety and living happily as they wanted.

He wonders what Qui-Gon would have done, were he here. Would he have taken a frontal approach, attacked the guards and seized control of the fleet before anyone could say anything about it, or waited for them to make the first move?

At that moment he swaying slightly towards the first option, only because their first move would most likely be execution or torture, but did doubt the ability of four Jedi to defeat a fleet.

He kept trying to feel her force signature, and rationally he knew he was still too far away, but he tried anyway as if one day she'd just be there and all of this would just be over. The others were all trying to get some rest, but Obi-Wan couldn't sleep. He was picturing her face in his mind, trying to formulate a picture in his mind that he could never forget.

Her eyes were big and royal blue—trusting and gentle eyes, her nose rounded and contoured. Lips a dark purple-black colour, curved and soft against his own. There were tattoos down her chin up to her jaw, the jaw shaping her face that was soft yet angular, her cheekbones prominent and bone structure strong. Luminara's hair was a deep, shining black colour and went down to her waist, it was slightly wavy from being under a headdress all the time. It had been strange to see her without the headdress to start with, and yet she looked even more beautiful without (something Obi-Wan hadn't thought possible).

Her body was slim, her curves normally covered up by robes and the typical tunic she always wore, hands tattooed like her chin. Obi-Wan loved everything about her; the amount he wanted to see her again was becoming unbearable.

Had she not been a Jedi, Obi-Wan didn't know if she would have approved of war at all. She was from Mirial originally, and while she did know little of her biological family, she did know that they travelled often and were most likely anti-war. Master Windu had told her that they traditionally spent one year in Mirial for every year they spent abroad, but they'd been at the wrong place at the wrong time when she'd been found. She hadn't asked about them again, but had told Obi-Wan all she knew years ago.

Some Jedi chose to return to their home planet after the Jedi trials to find out about their past but Luminara, like Obi-Wan, had chosen not to. There was nothing for her there, she had said. Her parents had been killed long ago, and there was no point dwelling on the past.

"Master, are you awake?" Anakin whispers. The room was almost pitch black, Obi-Wan could only the faint outlines of beds and bodies. He is almost surprised that Anakin is still awake.

"Yes." He replies quietly, not wanting to wake Barriss and Ahsoka.

"Do you have a plan? For tomorrow, I mean."

"I don't really know what we're going to do." Obi-Wan admits, scratching his chin through his beard. "There's two ways we can approach things. One is to just rush in and hope for the best, and another is be tactical and wait for them to find out before acting."

He can't see his face, but can hear Anakin sighing across the room. "I just—I don't think I've ever been a mission quite like this. I've been in dangerous situations, sure, but it's not me I worry about. There's you to start with, but I know you can take care of yourself, but we're responsible for Barriss and Ahsoka. And I'm not even onto Master Unduli yet. I don't know how we're going to pull this one off, Master."

"Barriss and Ahsoka are more capable than you think, Anakin." Obi-Wan says soothingly. "But I understand what you mean. I went through quite the same thing with you."

"Really? I was so well behaved, though, Master."

Obi-Wan snorts. "About as well behaved as a wild Zillo beast, yeah. I was constantly worried about you, if I was a good teacher, if you were taking in _anything_ that I was saying. It took me a while, but I now realise that you were just as capable as I was. Ahsoka and Barriss are their own people, and they have their own talents. I mean, you saw Barriss with Ventress. I could _never_ pull something like that off."

He can hear Anakin chuckling under his breath. "Neither could I. You're right, I know that. It's just hard sometimes."

"I know, I know. Just-"

An alarm sounds, Barriss and Ahsoka are woken up immediately. "What's happening?" Ahsoka asks groggily.

"I think we'd better investigate." Anakin says, running out of the room, closely tailed by the others. When Obi-Wan realises that Anakin is headed towards to the main control room he starts to have doubts, but reminds himself that Anakin is a capable Jedi and that they should trust his instincts.

There are a surprising lack of living creatures on this fleet, Obi-Wan observes as they run, though that is largely due to Dooku not trusting anything with an independent thought to do as he wants. The sirens on the ship are sounding loudly, a painful sound that he tries to ignore but cannot help wincing at. "ALL DROIDS TO ESCAPE PODS." A robotic voice says through a speaker, they all stop in their tracks. "ALL DROIDS TO ESCAPE PODS."

"The ships going down." Anakin realises aloud.

"It must be Shaak and Plo doing it. I can't think of any other way this could happen." Ahsoka adds. "Where are the escape pods? We can take one directly onto Serenno if we hurry."

Obi-Wan closes his eyes and calls upon the force to guide him. "This way." He says after a moment, leading the others in the opposite direction Anakin had been going. Before long they reach the escape pods, three of which were left.

"Get out of the way!" Ahsoka cries as they try and get through the sea of droids trying to board an escape pod.

"Droids take priority over unidentified guests. You must remain on the ship." One droid tells her in its robotic voice.

"We can stay here! We'll die!" Barriss says, shocked.

"You will go down with the ship, or go down now." Another says, and about thirty blasters get pointed at them. Obi-Wan gulps, though is truly surprised there hasn't been much violence up until this point. His hand goes to his lightsaber.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Master?" Anakin whispers to him as another pod leaves.

Obi-Wan grins. "Exactly."

Four lightsabers are taken out in a rush of blue and green and begin cutting through droids before they can react. It feels good to get this sort of action after a month of being completely stoic on a ship, Obi-Wan thinks. Once a path is clear, they all rush into the closest pod and shut the door behind them, launching themselves towards Serenno.

Anakin turns his comlink on, trying to reach Shaak and Plo. "Master Skywalker, is that you?" They hear, though the hologram is blurry.

"Yeah, it's me. Can you hear us?" Anakin says.

"We can hear you." Plo says. "What happened? We fired everything we could at the main cruiser but we weren't sure you were on it. We've had to retreat, they knew we were there and it was only a matter of time before they started shooting us down."

"That's fine, Master." Barriss tells them. "You got the right ship, and we've gotten away in an escape pod. We'll land on Serenno in about half an hour if I've done the maths correctly."

The picture is breaking up, but they can make out Shaak nodding. "We'll report to the council immediately."

Anakin turns the comlink off, and there is a silence, before he grins at them all. "Well done team. Another point to team Jedi."

"Well, this isn't exactly what we had planned." Barriss sighs, leaning back against her seat. "But we're one step closer to my Master. You're right, Master Skywalker. Well done."

Despite knowing it's a significant achievement to get onto Serenno, Obi-Wan still can't help feeling depressed about it. Yes, they've gotten to Serenno, but they didn't have any sort of plan from here on out. They couldn't just rock up at wherever Luminara was being held and go on their merry way—they didn't even know _where_ she was being held (though Obi-Wan was leaning towards Dooku's personal home, since on the cruiser the droids had said he had a single guest that was keeping him occupied).

"So what do we do when we land?" Ahsoka asks.

Anakin shrugs. "Find some people. We can try and blend in."

Ahsoka snorts. "Blend in? Have you _seen_ what we're wearing? We look like we're from Circapous, _not_ Serenno. And these Circapouran robes are hardly subtle. What do you propose we do about that, Master Skywalker?"

"I don't know... wear the nature." Anakin is fiddling with his lightsaber hilt. "We can find some leaves and wear those."

"Actually, I think it would be best if we didn't meet any of the locals." Barriss says. "Serenno is largely covered in forests and mountains, it'll be best if stay out of the way of civilisation. Count Dooku runs the entire planet, if anyone catches the scent that we're offworlders we'll be send strait to him. And with what we're wearing, it won't take long for them to realise."

They all agree with what Barriss says, and continue planning their route to Luminara.

Obi-Wan sends a prayer to whomever may be listening that it won't take to long.


	3. Three

**Okay so this was supposed to be about 10k like the others but it got a bit away from me so sorry if you don't like it long folks. There are little hints of barrissoka in this chapter if you squint but it can be read as platonic if you want (personally I think they would be a brill couple, but that's just me). This was supposed to be the last part but tbh I'm attached now and I might do more. Please review if you like this at all, if I could give my reveiwers all literal hugs I would! ^-^**

Shaak Ti feels a little guilty.

That's a lie—she feels very guilty.

"Stop fretting. I can sense your worry." Plo tells her, sitting across from her as they each eat their ration bars. "Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker know what they're doing. We've done all we can for them now."

She sighs. "I know. But I can't help feeling that we should have told them the truth about Luminara, about the Chosen One. Surely, since they are the ones to rescue her, they should at least be made aware of this?"

Plo looks at her curiously, threading his fingers together and pulling them apart slowly in a rhythmic loop. "You know that it would have only put more pressure on them, not to mention the two padawans." He says calmly. "And there are other contributing factors resulting in their lack of knowledge."

Shaak and Plo had been together on this ship for more than a month now, and had gotten plenty of time to get to know each other. She trusted him implicitly and now understood him to be a capable and sensible Jedi, as well as a talented pilot. Though she did find he seemed to understand everything about a situation far before she did, which was beginning to annoy her. "What contributing factors?" She asks.

"The unspoken ones."

"Well, speak them!" Shaak, raises her hand dramatically, still feeling a little dim for not understanding these 'unspoken' factors. "I don't see why they shouldn't know, personally."

"We know that Master Unduli conceived the night before everyone left Geonosis." Plo says, sighing. "Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi were the only two male Jedi with her that night. The council is worried that should one of them be the father of her child, the attachment will result in rash actions, and will ultimately lead them to fail their mission."

She takes a moment to absorb that. "I still find it hard to believe she do...that."

He laughs. "By 'that', do you mean sexual intercourse?"

"Well when you put it like that." Shaak mutters, rolling her eyes. "I knew Luminara though, better than most people. She was very to-the-book, the very thought of breaking the rules always sent her into a panic. We were supposed to be getting information once when we were younger with our Masters, and I remember telling her to flirt with this Twi'lek man to get him to talk." Shaak chuckles, recalling it. "You should have seen her face, Master Plo. Looked like a bomb had hit her."

"I didn't know her well." Plo replies. "Though from what I've heard, your description is quite accurate. Perhaps she needed an escape from her strict lifestyle. If Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker are successful, maybe you can ask her."

Shaak crosses her arms. "You bet I will. If she thinks I'm letting her get away with a dirty night of sexual intercourse she's got another thing coming." She can't stop herself laughing at herself. "Though seriously. She's getting a serious talk."

* * *

It's halfway through the fourth month when Luminara feels a little kick against her belly. It shocks her at first, takes her completely by surprise. "What...?" She whispers to herself, placing a hand on her stomach to feel the kicking motion again against her palm. It was completely unlike anything she'd ever felt before—it gave her a warm feeling, but also one of slight panic as she realised that yes, she did actually have another person inside her, and yes, this person had her genes, her DNA.

 _But...it's so big,_ she thinks to herself. _How am I going to get it out?_

She'd never seen a birth before under any circumstances, but had been in a hospital maternity ward before with Barriss. A woman who'd been heavily pregnant had gone into labour while Luminara and Barriss had been on their rounds once and they'd helped her to the hospital.

No, Luminara Unduli had never seen birth, but she'd _heard_ it.

The maternity ward sounded more like a torture ward when she was there, screaming and crying as people came out of people. That wasn't right—it was person-ception. _Pregnancy is a brutal thing,_ she thinks. _People should lay eggs like the water species and insects. It would be much easier._

But mammals didn't lay eggs, so she sat in the armchair feeling as her baby kicked. It wasn't that she disliked the feeling—actually, she was quite enjoying the idea that _she'd_ created this thing, given life—but it was all melancholy because she knew as soon as she did birth this child (in a way she wasn't quite certain of) it would no longer be hers.

Sometimes she allowed herself to think of her child as a 'he' rather than an 'it'. She imagines what her and Obi-Wan would name their son, how they would raise it, if he would look like the little boy in her dreams. Why she thought that it was a boy she wasn't sure, but the seed was already planted in her mind so it grew.

And every time she let herself delve into these dangerous thoughts, Count Dooku would come along and crush her.

 _So what do you think, Lumi?_ He'd ask. _Would name should we give to Kenobi's spawn? Come on, my little succubus, give me something to work with. Please? For me, your friend. I was thinking of calling him Obi-Wan after his daddy, don't think that'd be sweet? The whole world would know, can you imagine the headlines? Disgraced Jedi Luminara Unduli makes a whore of herself and produces a monstrous, revolting child that closely resembles his Jedi father. Oh, I'd truly love that, you have no idea. Should we do that, Lumi? Lumi?_

* * *

Anakin, Ahsoka, Barriss and Obi-Wan were sitting around a fire, eating Roba steak off the bone greedily. "Can I just say—I am extremely proud of myself." Anakin says mid-mouthful. "You all saw how aggressive that Roba was."

"Well you did approach it with a lightsaber, Anakin. What were you expecting, a warm greeting?" Obi-Wan muses.

"Back to important topics." Barriss says seriously, setting her meat on her lap. Obi-Wan wonders if his old apprentice will ever be as serious as his 15-year-old counterpart. "It's been almost a week since the pod crash landed, and we are still no closer to finding Master."

Ahsoka put her hand up. "I disagree. We know where she is now."

Barriss rolled her eyes. "Master Skywalker attacking a farmer on accident and asking for Count Dooku's location does not count as progress."

"Well, we know now. He's in his palace."

"Count Dooku's palace isn't much to go off, especially since the farmer ran off before we could get directions. Our best plan right now is to wander around Serenno until we bump into something that looks like a palace." Barriss pulls a piece of meat of her bone and puts it in her mouth, chewing slowly.

"Barriss is right." Obi-Wan agrees. "We need a plan that isn't harassing farmers."

"I think harassing is a bit harsh. I bumped into him, and just happened to have a blaster in my hands. Completely accidental." Anakin says innocently.

"I still don't want to know where you got that blaster." Obi-Wan sighs, throwing his bone on the floor.

Ahsoka puts her bone down too, sitting on the ground and beginning to meditate. Everyone else feels to bad to keep talking and disrupt her, so they join her. Obi-Wan wonders if it will help, since he hasn't had much time to meditate recently, and has been putting up his mask of bad humour to keep people from realising just how much the whole situation was hurting him.

The four of them sit there for hours, feeling the ground underneath them, the wind all around them. When in a state of focus only found when practising meditation one can hear the gentle swaying of trees, scattering of small creatures, the in breaths and out breaths of others around. Obi-Wan sorts through his thoughts, desperately trying to find something that could help them find Luminara.

Barriss finds the answer their looking for first and Obi-Wan isn't far behind her.

"North." She says aloud. "We just have to follow our noses north and we'll find Count Dooku."

Anakin and Ahsoka stand up. "We'll start when it gets light tomorrow." Anakin tells everyone.

 _I'm coming, love. I'm coming._

* * *

"Oh Lumi, how big you've gotten!" Dooku says as he comes in with two bowls of Eopie stew and a large jug of water. He sets the food down on the table and goes over to the bed, where she had been trying to read a book called _Dystopia_ for the sixth time. "Can I feel?"

"No." She says firmly, wrapping her arms protectively around her bump.

"I bring sad news." He flops back in the armchair, playing with his finger nails. "Jedi have been spotted on Serenno. I think they're coming to steal you from me. There's already been attack on my fleet as well. It's been a most disappointing month."

Her heart jumps. "So we're on Serenno, then?"

"I forget how in the dark you are at times." He smirks, and sits up straight. "How do you want me to kill them? I was thinking about making it a long, painful death, you see. But I think a public whipping first might be more appropriate." His face lights up at the thought. "Oh! And you could come to the whipping as my princess of pain, my little succubus."

"I'd rather not attend." She replies blankly, eyeing the food. "Can you please taste the food."

"Alright then." He takes a small chunk of meat from her stew and chews it slowly, rinsing it down with the water. He frowns. "The cooks could have done better on this one. Sorry, Lumi. I'll tell them to make something more appropriate for a woman with a ridiculous appetite next time."

He hands her the bowl and she tries to look mildly uninterested, but her stomach has been growling for hours so it's a challenge. "It's fine." She says.

"So, if you ever saw your little incubus again, would you be happy?" Dooku asks, taking his own stew onto his lap.

"If by that you mean Master Kenobi, then it would depend on the circumstance."

He frowns. "What do you mean?"

"If you're just saying this in order to capture him and have him tortured in front of me, then no, I wouldn't." She puts a forkful of stew into her mouth and has to agree—the cooks could have done better, really. It's better than that bantha milk she was given yesterday though.

"Clever again, little succubus." He grins. "I had hoped for a 'Yes! I would like nothing more to see my love again!'"

"Sorry to disappoint you. And he is not 'my love'." She says, though it's not true. "The Jedi do not form attachments, and I had one moment of weakness that has been debatably regretful."

"Though, should the Jedi by some miracle rescue you," He begins, between mouthfuls. "Do you really think you won't be expelled from the Order? You broke the code in quite an obvious way, Lumi."

Of course, she had thought about that, and knew the consequences of her actions. Though it mattered not, because she'd made her peace that her life would last as long as the baby was inside her. The only thing she is, as he puts it more than once, is his 'succubus' (though she finds that word a tad overdramatic, surrogate would be more appropriate).

The baby kicks her on the side of her stomach, and she rests her hand gently there as if to comfort it. It must know she's its mother, she thinks, since she's the only person it has communicated with—well, if a few dozen jabs to the stomach count as communication.

Will her baby ever know anything about her, or will Dooku plague his mind with lies? Luminara assumes the latter, but with the prospect of Jedi on Serenno coming to her rescue...

Those were dangerous thoughts.

"I have broken the code and conceived a child." She admits confidently, turning her attention back to the Sith Lord. "And would most likely me ejected from the Order. However, we both know that I'll be dead before that could happen."

"Dead indeed."

* * *

They were trudging bitterly through the Serenno forests. Obi-Wan wasn't quite sure how long they'd been travelling across Serenno for since most of their electronic equipment had been fried when the escape pod landed on the ground, though was self-aware enough to understand that it had been a significant amount of time.

It had certainly been weeks, perhaps even months, from their combined guesses. Anakin and Ahsoka had been trying to keep Barriss and Obi-Wan in good spirits the entire journey but their efforts were slowly declining in success. They didn't understand—Luminara didn't mean as much to them. For them, it wasn't a matter of the heart.

He knew that Luminara was the only family Barriss had, they had a bond that was almost more like mother and daughter than Master and padawan, Ahsoka and Anakin knew this also. Neither of them had any idea about his own relationship with Luminara, didn't have a clue of the love they'd shown each other in a moment of pure bliss. Part of him wanted to share it in a strange way, wanted their love to live on even if they died tomorrow. If Luminara did not survive, he knew he could not either. He wonders if she feels the same.

"Do you guys see that?" Ahsoka asks, pointing between a group of trees.

"Ahsoka, I swear, if this is another poor attempt at a bantha joke-"

Obi-Wan interrupts the beginning of Barriss' threat. "She's right. Look." He points to a dull green glow that they could just make up, like a distant star, only this wasn't anywhere near as far away as a star.

They all start running towards it, half in excitement of finding what they had been looking for, half in nervousness that they'd be disappointed. "There!" Anakin almost jumps in excitement as the palace comes into view. "Snips, I swear, I could kiss you!"

She smiles, clapping her hands softly together. "That is such a relief. I was starting to think we were on the wrong planet or something."

Anakin laughs. "Well, I suppose landing on the wrong side of the planet wasn't too practical."

"How are we going to get in?" Barriss asks, following her own initiative and beginning to climb a tree. They all copy her, climbing the highest trees they can find in order to achieve a more aerial view. The palace is large with a green pulsating gem-like object pointing outwardly (probably for dramatic effect)—Obi-Wan assumes that's what Ahsoka saw.

He closes his eyes to try and sense her force signature, and so for first time in so many months he can feel her, gently licking at the side of his mind. "I can sense her." He says. "She's definitely inside."

"Me too." Barriss adds. "Though her force signature is weak—which could be for one of two reasons. One is that she's on the far side of the castle and we aren't close enough to pick up her signature clearly. And the other—" Obi-Wan can feel waves of her sadness echoing through the force "is that she's incredibly weak...dying."

 _No...she isn't dying. She isn't, I can save her, I'm here now,_ Obi-Wan assures himself. "We need to get into there as soon as possible." Anakin says.

"Yeah, but how? It's really heavily guarded." Barriss replies, gesturing to the hundreds of little people that could only be droids they can see.

"I'm not sure if this'll work, but I am beginning to formulate a plan." Anakin says, studying the palace as closely as he can from the distance. "But I'd be willing to bet my life that there are air vents running somewhere along the back wall of that palace. If we can get in through those, we could avoid the initial security problem."

"I'm not sure we're going to fit into air vents, Anakin." Obi-Wan sighs.

"Well, it's that or a ridiculous amount of droids and possibly Dooku in the flesh, since he's almost definitely here." Anakin counters. "I'm sure we can squeeze in. If not, Barriss can always drag us through."

Barriss gives him a look of disapproval and he gives her an innocent one back. "If it does come to that, everyone is going to know about it. I swear, if I have to drag you through an air vent, the whole of Coruscant will be laughing at you for weeks afterwards."

"Worth it." Anakin shrugs, jumping down from the tree. "Now let's get over there, and find out where these air vents might be."

* * *

On the first day of month seven, Luminara started her day with a shower. The workout had become significantly impractical considering the size of her midsection—not to mention how difficult it had become to sleep at night with a small person kicking your insides around.

Sure, she'd seen women with child around before, but she'd never thought to imagine what it felt like. As a Jedi she had always been aware that procreating (as she had referred to it) wasn't something she'd ever be remotely involved in. That, and the person-ception had made her feel a little uncomfortable. Though now it was real and happening, Luminara was beginning to _really_ regret not paying more attention when Shaak had told her a story about delivering a child on Alderaan.

She knew that the baby would come out of the same place it got in. But it had been so much smaller when it got in—how in all of the universe would it be able to get out? The baby would tear her up completely. It just wasn't right.

Under the assumption Dooku would know, she'd considered asking him, but realised that would be more awkwardness that she was willing to put herself through.

As it turned out she hadn't needed to be so overly curious on the first day of month seven, because it was the day Count Dooku lost his patience.

She walks out of the bathroom wearing only a sports bra (she's taken to wearing them since her normal ties weren't working as well as they had once), pants and big black t-shirt that she'd found at the back of the wardrobe. Dooku was there, ready and waiting, with a selection of medical droids by his side. "What's happening?" She asks nervously, eyeing the droids.

"It's eviction day, little succubus." Dooku grins. "I'd say this won't hurt—but I'd be lying."

The droids come closer to her and Luminara backs away cautiously, giving him the glare of all glares. "Get away!" She cries, using the force to throw the closet droids backwards and curling up in a corner. "Please, just leave me alone..."

There's a jab in her arm, and Luminara goes into a dark, deep state of unconsciousness.

* * *

It's morning by the time they get to the side of the palace, Anakin trying to sense a vent and Barriss keeping watch for droids around them. They're sure cameras are set up around the palace so it won't be long before Dooku gets on the case—that's why it's important everything is executed with intense speed.

"Got it." Anakin says, pulling his lightsaber out and cutting out a neat humanoid shaped whole into the vent. "Who'd like to go first."

Ahsoka sighs. "I'm the shortest. I'll go."

"Be my guest." She climbs into the vent with agility only a Jedi could manage, closely followed by Anakin, Obi-Wan and Barriss. It's tight and Obi-Wan doesn't really enjoy having Anakin's backside in his face, but in truth that's the least of his worries. He can feel Luminara's strongly now, can feel her pain, her horror. In all his time, Obi-Wan hasn't felt anything as deep, hasn't ever sensed such _agony_ physically, mentally and emotionally. If it wasn't for his sheer determination to save her from her pain, Obi-Wan wasn't sure he would have been able to bear it.

They reach a cross roads (or rather cross vent) and split up. Anakin and Barriss go left—they can't sense Luminara in that direction but can feel Dooku—as they need to cause a distraction while Ahsoka and Obi-Wan focus on their main objective.

"May the force be with you, Master Kenobi, Ahsoka." Barriss says to them bravely as they part ways, knowing perfectly well they may never see each other again.

"And you." Obi-Wan replies, being careful not to bang his head as he nods in the extremely claustrophobic vent. Ahsoka leads, he can feel waves of her nervousness through the force. He doesn't blame her—months of searching and tracking all lead up to this moment and it was do or die.

As they get closer to Luminara, they start to hear the screams. Ahsoka stops when they first hears it, turning back to him with a look of complete horror on her face. He says nothing, nodding his head to continue, reassuring himself that all her pain would soon be ended, everything would be over. "Master Kenobi," Ahsoka says as they crawl, still emitting her nerves in gentle waves. "if we never get out of here, I want you to know that you have been an incredible mentor to me and have helped me in more ways that you can imagine. Thank you, for everything."

Her voice cracks at the end and that's when Obi-Wan realises what she is—a thirteen year old girl. Everyone always assumed she was older, as they did with all Jedi, even Obi-Wan was guilty of this. He wonders what she'd be doing had she not been Anakin Skywalker's padawan. Would she be in school, stressing about exams, living with a loving with a loving family and caring friends?

But no, this thirteen years old girl was rescuing the love of his life from a Sith so feared that some dreaded to hear his name. For that, he respected her beyond measure. "And I thank you, Ahsoka. You have taught me much also, and I know this hasn't been easy for you." They share a simple smile as they stop on top of Luminara's torture cell, hearing the screams piercing though the force, and cut a whole to jump down through.

His arrival in Luminara's cell is a complete blur—droids, officer, blue blade, death, spare parts. He only stops when he takes sight of her face— _her_ face. It's tear streaked, her deep blue eyes red-rimmed, lips spilling dark red blood onto her chin. They make eye contact, but even seeing the eyes of her love isn't enough to bring any light to her eyes. He knows Luminara, and can't possibly imagine what Dooku could have done to crush her so deeply. Ahsoka deactivates the holding frame that was string her up by her arms and she collapses into Obi-Wan's arms, eyes with a dead look to them and body limp despite the gentle thumping of her heart.

* * *

 ** _About six hours earlier_**

When she wakes, it is everything Luminara can do not to scream.

There is a pain she hadn't imagined coursing through her body, its epicentre her abdomen though it branches out to her spine and stomach. She winces, having enough control of her emotions not to cry out, and realises she isn't in her designated room.

It's clearly a medical room she's in—the walls are white tile and she's lying with her legs spread apart in what could only be described as a hospital chair. The pain hits her again and she groans, it dawning completely upon her what's happening when one of the droids says "I can see the head."

The urge to scream is stronger now the drugs are completely wearing off, partly due to small rancor coming out through her vagina and partly due to the fact this was it. Once the rest of the body of her child joins the head, Luminara Unduli was dead.

"She's waking. Quickly, get the child away." She did scream when there was a sharp tug on what could only be the baby and the body came free of her, it's initial cries filling the room. Such a birth had literally ripped her apart, and blood was escaping her at an alarming pace.

Luminara can feel blood pool against her thighs, but ignores it, looking towards the little creature the droids are doing something to. She cannot see her child other that a little hand—a little perfect hand, half of her and half of Obi-Wan—waving in a babylike manor. "Please." Luminara rasps, trying to ignore the burning pain she feels. "Can I see him...just for a second...please!"

It automatically gone from 'it' to 'him' again, but she doesn't realise. "Let me see him." She says, more commanding now. "Please!" Her face goes from pleading to rage when they take the infant out of the room, still crying in his first few minutes. "PLEASE! LET ME HOLD HIM, SEE HIM, ANYTHING, PLEASE!" She screams, body bleeding and burning. Her rage should worry her, but it doesn't, she feeds off it, screaming louder. The person that's been resting inside of her for seven months was ripped from her body brutally. Luminara Unduli feels empty.

Luminara Unduli feels despair, emptiness and a loss that could only be related to attachment as she blood loss causes her consciousness fades unwillingly. _That forsaken code._

* * *

 ** _Present_**

Anakin and Barriss jump down in a room they sensed was right, and upon seeing it was a store room they were both very confused. "What in the name of the force is this doing in a palace?" Anakin wonders aloud, looking around what could only be described as a store cupboard. There are spanners and wires, spare droid parts, communicators, broken comlinks...and a lightsaber.

"I suppose even palaces have store rooms." Barriss mutters quietly to herself, glancing over the wall.

Anakin picks the weapon up, inspecting it carefully. "Barriss." He says, and she turns to look at him. "Does this look like your Master's blade?"

"Ignite it." When a bright green blade is revealed Anakin's suspicion is all but confirmed. "That's hers. Definitely."

"Good." Anakin puts the blade on his belt next to his own. "Now let's get distracting."

They both leave the cupboard, sensing unease as soon as the low green light hits their faces. "Dooku." Barriss says as they begin walking to their left, looking for anything or anyone to start a fight with. Getting Dooku's attention was their only job, and to do that they needed to cause some sort of small riot. "I can sense him close by. And someone with him..."

"I sense it too." Anakin replies, catching sight of a few droids guarding a room large room. If they could find Dooku in person, wasn't that even better? He senses Dooku inside the room, and decides that their best option is probably to just barge in a start a fight. "You ready?"

She nods, taking a deep breath, and taking her blade from her belt and clutching it on her right hand. She ignites her blue blade and Anakin turns on his own, they approach the droids as casually as they can. Anakin can feel waves of Dooku's amusement through the force, feel his maniacal glee at the thought of Jedi in his palace. _Crazy Bastard._

"Jedi!" One of the droids says, firing his blaster that is easily deflected by the Jedi weapons. Barriss slices through the droids easily as the senior Jedi present glances into Dooku's room.

"You'd think," Anakin starts. "That with all his money, Dooku might have a little bit more security."

"Unless he wants us to find him." The thought makes Barriss feel a little all though it is inevitable. Dooku was too clever not to have sensed them by now.

They walk into what could only be described as a throne room knowing they are expected with confident faces, not letting themselves be undermined by the psychopath who was sat before them.  
"Skywalker." Dooku acknowledges as they step into the room, grin on his face. He's sitting lazily in a big grey seat (his 'throne') that's been placed directly in front of an enormous stained glass window depicting Dooku himself with a red lightsaber by his side.

Some would call it aesthetically pleasing, Anakin just thinks it's self-centred and quite frankly a little ugly. "And who are you, young lady?" The Sith Lord continues, but when Barriss goes to reply he interrupts her. "Considering that you're here, you're a Mirialan and have a striking resembalance to the girl I saw on Geonosis I'd have to say your Barriss Offee, Lumi's padawan. Loved like her own daughter, and I must say there is an odd resemblance between the two of them, don't you think, Master Skywalker?"

He thinks about questioning the nickname 'Lumi' but lets it pass over. "We're here for Master Unduli. Let her go, and we'll be on out way."

Dooku scrunches up his face and frowns. "Where would the fun in that be? Maybe I'm being a little hasty." His grin returns, menacing as ever, and he rests his hand on his cheek. "I'll tell you what. When I'm done playing with her, I'll send you the corpse. Is that fair? You can give her one of your pointless Jedi funerals that seem to happen every few days."

"No! Tell us where she is right now or I'll..." Barriss stops, thinking of an appropriate threat.

"It won't be pretty." Anakin finishes for her. Dooku is laughing now.

"I'm sure it won't." He stands, taking a single step forward, and looking towards a black crib-like object to his left. Anakin dreads to imagine what's inside. "But I'm afraid you'll be the one lying as spare parts on the ground, Jedi." It's uncanny, Anakin thinks, how Dooku's voice can change from giggly excitement to deadly seriousness in a matter of seconds. "For I have a new apprentice."

Anakin shrugs. "Yeah. We kind of broke Ventress. Sorry about that."

"Oh, she was nothing but practice." He waves his hand dismissively, taking a step to his left. "But my new apprentice is far greater than that weak little Dathomiran will ever hope to be. For, Skywalker, your Master Unduli had placed the Chosen One right into my arms. The most powerful force sensitive to ever exist, the Chosen One, is _mine._ "

Anakin's grip tightens on his lightsaber hilt, he can see Barriss grimacing. "Your lying."

Another laugh, Dooku's eyes twinkling. "And why would I lie about that, Skywalker? I've had a significant achievement, and I'm going to preach it to all who will listen, and all who'll be dead before they can tell anyone." Another step closer to the object. Anakin steps forward too, never taking his eyes off the Sith Lord. "Tell me, boy. Did it upset you when you found out you weren't the Chosen one the Jedi had said you were?" His lips pout as he speaks in a childs voice—his actions purely to wind Anakin up. "Did ickle Ani have a screaming fit?"

Barriss can sense Anakin's tension, and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. After a deep breath, Anakin smiles. "No. I was _relieved._ I think you have the wrong idea about the Chosen One, though. There is no apprentice here, no warrior. I can sense someone, some other presence, but not someone who feels malice or anger. No, this presence is as innocent as a..." He runs forward to the crib, smirking as he looks down into it. "Baby."

Dooku lets out a noise of annoyance, using the force to push Anakin away from the child. His red blade ignites, and Anakin copies with his own blue and Luminara's green blade, taking his stance.

"As wonderful as your visit had been." Dooku says, settling into his own battle stance. "Today's not a day I'm going to let you ruin for me." He leaps, blue, green and red clashing as Anakin moves both blades above his head to block Dooku's assault—the innocent little child begins to cry.

* * *

"Obi-Wan..." She mutters, seeing blurry shapes around her. She cannot see him, but she recognises the arms around her, a familiar warmth that leads her to only one conclusion. "Am I dead?" Her voice is slurred and broken—a little like the time Anakin got drunk and stormed into her apartments—but also heavy and raw, like she's been screaming for hours.

Has she been screaming for hours? _How queer,_ she thinks to herself. _Why would I do that?_

Her name is being said, she knows, can hear it. _Luminara._ As a child she'd always hated her name, thought it was too long and didn't have any nice nicknames. Shaak called her 'Nara' sometimes but it wasn't pretty. Apparently the name suited her though, Obi-Wan told her that. He said it was beautiful. He said that she was beautiful too.

 _Beautiful he called me. Elegant, stunning, exquisite. I wish he would call me that again, so maybe I could believe it, just for a moment. So that maybe I could be beautiful._

"Luminara! Say something, anything, please!" Her eyes are becoming less fuzzy now and she can make out her lover's face. She smiles, reaching her hand out to touch his cheek even though it makes her arm burn. There's a jolt in her stomach, like the freshest kind of wound, and she screams words that are both inaudible and unrecognisable

She screams before she even knows what she's trying to say, like a language she never knew existed that is yet so familiar. Burying her head in his chest she sobs, knowing she's not safe but feeling like maybe she could be, might be, just for a moment in his arms. For this is the man she loves, she knows, the man who will protect her and their child...

 _OUR CHILD._

"Save him..." She chokes, gripping his robes as hard as she can.

"Who?" His voice is soft and comforting to her, his hand moving in calming circles on her back. Ahsoka is there she knows, and while she cannot see her, her presence made aware strongly through the force. Nervous, she is, and unsure of what to do with herself. Despite loving Ahsoka as a companion and temporary apprentice, Luminara ignores her. Ahsoka Tano is not important to her in this moment.

She coughs, trying to clear her throat that had been screamed raw. Gently she pulled Obi-Wan's head closer to her, and through chapped and bloody lips she whispers "Baby. Mine. Yours."

She doesn't expect him to say anything, and he doesn't. The look he gives her says it all. _I love you. And I'm sorry,_ it says. She wants to tell him that it's equally her fault and he shouldn't feel guilty, but she doesn't. She wants to beg him never to leave her again, but she doesn't. The silence between them is as much understanding as is necessary. And she knows that they must part once more.

"Master Kenobi, we need to get her out of here." She hears Ahsoka say.

"Yes." He replies, though keeping his eyes on Luminara. His eyes—a light sapphire blue, trusting, beautiful eyes—are everything she needs to give her hope. "There's something I need to do first. Take her to the hanger; the force will guide you. If I'm not back within an hour exactly, leave without me."

"But Master—"

"Ahsoka." He's never sounded so deadly serious. "May the force be with you."

"And you, Master Kenobi."

He leaves with a sprint and Luminara tries to remember the feeling—to sprint. But no, he legs are almost numb and even if she tried the soreness from the birth had left her unable to stumble more than a few steps. Ahsoka pulls her up to a standing position and walks her out of the door.

 _Oh, Obi-Wan, return to me. Return with our child, let us have joy in this forsaken universe._

* * *

He can hear the clash of lightsabers from a few corridors away.

Obi-Wan is 26 years old. While in most cultures that is very young, he has achieved much in his life. He became a Jedi knight after years of being taught by Qui-Gon Jinn, the best man he ever knew. Anakin had been a challenge, but despite not being the Chosen One he was proving himself to be quite the adept warrior. Obi-Wan was also aiding his old apprentice in Ahsoka's training—a feat which was proving almost as difficult as Anakin had been, but still successful. He'd learnt the difference between lust and love, he'd learnt the difference between attachment and compassion.

And now, after months of searching and utter despair, Obi-Wan Kenobi was a father.

A son, he assumes, since Luminara referred to their child as a 'him'. As he runs he tries not to think about it too much, but finds that impossible. He had always been under the very aware that this could be his last mission, any mission could be his last, but his own understanding that his last mission would be the day he died. Never had he anticipated that he's be exiled and expelled from the Order. Though, now he thought about it in a little more depth, he could still be killed, and being exiled wouldn't be so bad as long as he had Luminara with him.

But this is not the day Obi-Wan Kenobi dies.

No.

He has too much to live for now.

He sees Barriss, Anakin and Dooku duelling as he peers through the door, cut up droids by his feet, he hears the clash of lightsabers and the cries of an infant. Spying the crib looking object and trying to think of a way to get to it without being stopped, he realises that one of three things needed to happen in order for them all to get out alive with the baby. _His_ baby.

One was for Dooku to quite simply hand the baby over, but for some unknown reason he had kept it close so Obi-Wan eliminated that option quite quickly. The second was to successfully sneak past the fight, take the baby and have Barriss and Anakin get out behind him—though the room was very open, and Obi-Wan could see no way of achieving that without being spotted. The third, it seemed, was the only plausible method.

He needed to kill Dooku.

"Count Dooku." He says quite casually, catching all three of their attentions. Obi-Wan acknowledges absentmindedly how easy it is to lie, to put on a brave face and get out of difficult situations with sarcasm and deadly weaponry. "We thank you for your hospitality, but would like to take the child and leave without further conflict, if that is at all possible."

The Count sneers, bringing his blade down at Barriss' head which she successfully blocks. "And why would I do that, Master Kenobi?"

 _Option one was far too hopeful._ "Well, I'm afraid that if you don't, we'll have to kill you."

Anakin spins sharply, bringing both his blades—when _did_ he get that second one?— towards Dooku's legs.

"As you can see." Dooku replies, blocking Anakin's swipe with one hand and gesturing behind him with the other. "Your apprentice and his little friend haven't been very successful on that front. If you surrender now I will give you a merciful death.

Obi-Wan takes a few steps closer, very conscious that his offspring—his very own flesh and blood—was in the room, crying desperately in fear in the few hours of his life. That was enough was enough to make his blood boil, not to mention the terrible state he'd found his love in and the months she'd been captive, but he kept his calm, allowing the force to flow through him as Luminara would in that situation.

"But I don't think you counted on me being here."Obi-Wan says, and like a shot he sprints over to the crib and grabs the baby—the paternal part of him wanting to look at it but the rational part knowing it'll distract him— not having enough self-belief to conjure up a sarcastic smile. If things go to plan he'll be able to look at his child all he wants. "Or me just picking the child up."

"It's the Chosen One, Master—" Barriss starts before receiving a nasty kick to the stomach that throws her against a wall.

It makes his stomach flip when she says that. _That can't be true._ But it is true, it makes sense, it is the only rational explanation that could explain the chain of events that have occurred over the past few months. "Put it down." Dooku growls through gritted teeth, trying to get to Obi-Wan. Anakin was keeping him back but slowly Dooku was getting closer. Igniting his blade, Obi-Wan puts it over the child that was beginning to settle.

He swallows.

"Let us go, or the child dies."

"Master!" Anakin cries. "You can't, Master—"

"It's the only way." Dooku pauses in his attempts to move forward, pondering it for a moment. Then he smiles.

"You wouldn't. You could never kill it—it means too much." _He knows._ Obi-Wan refuses to show any acknowledgement of this and continues.

Anakin strikes as Dooku's leg while he wasn't paying attention, but Dooku is faster and kicks Anakin round the head as he does. Both Anakin and Luminara's blades fall out of Anakin's grip and noisily clatter on the ground. Barriss screams as Anakin falls to the ground, Obi-Wan holding his breath as he expects Dooku to finish him off. A single tear escapes his eye.

Instead however, Dooku marches up to Obi-Wan with his sabre lifted above his head and fire in his eyes. Unable to move, all Obi-Wan can do is hold his own weapon up in defence feebly and wait for the inevitable. Resisting the urge to shut eyes, he holds his blade up to meet Dooku's, clutching the infant to his chest as it begins to cry again.

Neither realise that Barriss had stood up again. So focussed on each other—on the infant—neither realised that she'd ignited her lightsaber and thrown it, letting a cry of desperation escape her as she let their complete last resort fly through the air.

Dooku's blade is only inches from his face, since Obi-Wan's one arm is no match for the sheer force Dooku was putting into his assault.

It is in that moment that he genuinely contemplates killing his own child to spare him from a life as a Sith.

Obi-Wan doesn't understand how it happens at first. A second before his own demise, he sees Dooku's face freeze and feels all his strength leave his opponent through the force. The Sith Lord stumbles back, clutching his side where Obi-Wan sees Barriss' lightsaber had imbedded itself.

It was a mortal wound, Obi-Wan knew. There was no way Dooku was surviving that. And despite knowing all the pain he caused, all the torture he'd inflicted on people, on Luminara, in his last breaths Obi-Wan Kenobi couldn't help feeling a _little_ sorry for the ex-Jedi.

In the end, he was just psychopathic and full of fear. And once dead, his soul would return to the stream of the force and he'd be forgotten. "Master, we need to go." Barriss shakes his shoulder. He nods, looking towards an unconscious Anakin.

"You take the child, I'll take Anakin." Barriss nods and takes the baby in her arms. Obi-Wan tries to wake Anakin successfully.

"Dooku..." His old apprentice says as his eyes flutter open and Obi-Wan hauls him to his feet. Anakin stumbles a little as Obi-Wan helps to support him, but soon regains his inhibitions. "Oh." He says as he looks at Dooku's dead form on the ground. Barriss had taken her lightsaber back as Obi-Wan was helping Anakin, adding her Master's and Skywalker's own weapons to her belt for safekeeping—and as she looked at the baby she couldn't help notice something strange.

It was asleep now, gently breathing against her chest, but when its eyes had been open a few moments ago they had been a bright, deep blue colour that could only be Mirialan, but its skin was pale like a human. The little hair it had on its head was black, and it was perhaps the smallest baby Barriss had ever seen in the humanoid spectrum (she'd seen more than people often expected—she was a healer, after all). This child had been premature, though seemed healthy enough, with an extremely strong level of force surrounding her. She wondered how high its midochlorian was. Yes, Barriss knew, if Dooku had been right about anything it was about this baby.

"Let's go. Ahsoka and Master Unduli are waiting in the hanger bay." Obi-Wan says, taking the baby back from Barriss and leading them out of the throne room. He wasn't sure he'd ever run so fast—but one look at his child's face was enough to tell him everything he needed to motivate himself.

He knew what love was.

* * *

Ahsoka had found a relatively practical looking ship and lifted Master Unduli inside. The Jedi Master kept drifting in and out of consciousness so it was hard to carry her along (admittedly Ahsoka had dragged her a small distance, though she'd keep that little fact from Obi-Wan), but once she'd laid her down in the med-room of the ship she did feel physically less tense.

 _If I'm not back in an hour exactly, leave without me._ It had been 37 minutes since he'd said that, and Ahsoka desperately hoped she wouldn't have to leave without him and the others. Anakin was her Master, and while they had their rows and arguments, he was like a brother to her. All of them, Master Kenobi, Master Skywalker and Barriss had become like family to her over the past few months—Barriss being her ultimate confidant, and they'd shared everything together while travelling over through the Serenno forests.

39 minutes. She looked out of the window and saw nothing but other ships and the remains of the droids she'd destroyed minutes before. There hadn't been as many as she expected but it had still proved a challenge to get past them with a completely dazed Mirialan on your shoulder.

Still, that hadn't been as hard as waiting. The waiting was _awful._

"Would you actually stop that?" She hears a familiar voice and her head perks up. "You're stepping on my robes."

"It isn't my fault that your robes are so long, and you're a _really_ slow walker."

"We'd be running if you hadn't twisted your ankle." The first voice retorts, and Ahsoka almost squeals when they come into view. Her Master has a big smirk on his face and Barriss' eyebrows are furrowed as she pulls her red Circarpouran robes up from the floor. Master Kenobi is behind holding what could only be a baby. Ahsoka didn't even initially question it for sheer joy to see them alive and okay (other that Barriss' frustration as Anakin continued to try and tread on her robes).

Ahsoka genuinely wonders if its natural to be so calm after such a long-winded, terrifying ordeal.

"Skyguy! Barriss, Master Kenobi!" Ahsoka calls, waving her hand to them. They all smile at her, Barriss running into the ship and giving her the biggest hug she's ever received. The Mirialan had never been one for much physical contact, so Ahsoka is genuinely moved by the display of affection.

"What happened? Where's Dooku? Are you injured? Why's Master Kenobi got a baby? Is it Dooku's? Do we need to rush, is he coming?" Anakin laughs as he listens to his padawan's nervous questioning— though does note that the pair of padawans were still hugging closely.

"Dooku's dead. Barriss is the heroine of the day, I must admit, even though I'd have loved to claim that title." Barriss blushes a deeper shade of olive as Anakin speaks, pulling back from the hug, and managing to give him a weak smile.

Ahsoka gasps and looks to Barriss. "You are going to _have_ to tell me everything."

With a laugh, Barriss nods. "Where's Master Unduli?" Obi-Wan asks urgently

"Round the back. She's unconscious, though I think she'll be okay. I hooked her up to the life support." Ahsoka replies.

"I'm going to get us away from this planet—I want to be home as soon as possible. No traditional route this time, I'm jumping straight to Coruscant and no one's going to stop me." Anakin says, taking the pilots seat and setting the ship up for departure. "Ahsoka, Barriss, go get some sleep. It's been a long day and you need to rest."

They both nod. "Can I see my Master quickly before?" Barriss asks.

"Of course." Obi-Wan says, sitting down in the seat next to Anakin and taking the time to properly look at his child. It's quite clear that the child's half Mirialan and half Human. One would only have to look in its eyes and at its skin to know that.

Ahsoka and Barriss both go to the back rooms, leaving Anakin, Obi-Wan and the baby alone in the front of the ship.

Before he was crying, but now the child's face is quite still, eyes closed and breathing softly. "You know." Anakin says, looking at his Master knowingly."I don't think I ever anticipated my Master having a family. Still, it suits you Master."

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow. "How did you know?"

"Only a father would look at his child like that. Is it a son or daughter you've got there?" Anakin smiles—its strange to look at, since all he ever really does is smirk. Obi-Wan is very grateful that Anakin isn't angry or reacting badly to the fact his Master has broken the code, but is the sceptical of how relaxed he seems about it.

"Son...I think." Obi-Wan says, lifting the little blanket the baby is wrapped in to check. "Correction. Daughter."

Anakin's smile widens, and he gets the ship out of the hanger into the space. "Once I've got this into hyperspace can I hold her?"

"As long as you don't drop her, sure."

"Come on Master, when have I ever let you down?"

* * *

When Luminara wakes up she feels a certain peace she hasn't been able to tap into for a while— it's almost serene. When she looks around part of her is actually surprised that she isn't in the bedroom, though it isn't sentiment to be back there that makes her think that at all. She isn't sure she'll be able to look at white bedsheets without wanting to wretch again.

 _Baby. Mine. Yours._

She starts up straight away at the thought, only to fall down off the bed she had been resting on. Her body is still sore from having her baby literally pulled out of her, and having an electrostaff pressed against her stomach on and off for the six hours afterwards certainly hadn't helped matters. Nor had falling of the bed. Trying to let the force calm her, she pulls herself painfully back onto the bed she'd been lying on, trying to recall what the last thing that happened to her was. _Did Obi-Wan make it back?_ The panic overrides her system before she can stop it her voice runs away from her. "Obi-Wan!" She calls—voice still raw from before, throat burning, but she continues. "Are you here! Obi-Wan!"

She can hear running, and her heart leaps when she sees his face—those eyes— in front of her. He looks equally happy at the sight of her, and takes her in his arms lightly, careful not to press on any wounds. The feel of him, the scent of him, she savours it all and pulls him in with as much force as she can muster. "I thought I'd lost you." He whispers softly, voice cracking a little. There are tears in her eyes a the sound of his voice.

"Never." She whispers, closing her eyes. She can feel her tears dripping of her chin onto his...blue robes. His attire was less than normal, and if she hadn't been so shaken up she probably would have laughed. Pulling back, she looks into his sapphire eyes expectantly. "Did you...get him...the baby?"

He nods, eyes watering up. "Her."

She frowns. "What?" It hurts to attempt to hold a conversation, but years of Jedi training has taught her how to ignore pain.

"The baby. It's a girl." She smiles and pulls him into her arms again, letting laughter of joy escape her lips. "She's so perfect, Luminara. Her eyes are big and blue just like yours and her skin is human like mine. She looks like you more though, lucky thing."

He wipes her eyes with his sleeve and she laughs, looking at the somewhat dirty material. "What are you wearing, Obi?"

"Oh, Circarpous IV. It's a long story—I'll tell you everything soon, I promise. But there's someone I think you'd like to meet first." Her face lights up.

"Is she not asleep? Don't wake her if she is, please. The poor thing has been through quite the ordeal." He chuckles.

"She isn't. Actually, she's been awake for a while. Poor things is hungry I think and we didn't have anything to feed her with." Luminara nods, letting him go out to get the baby. She knows its probably silly to feel a sense of loss as he leaves the room, but her heart sinks as he goes. _My daughter,_ she thinks in awe to distract herself. _I have a daughter._

He comes back and the baby's still crying, though Luminara doesn't care. "Hold your arms out." He tells her, but she isn't sure how to. She's never had to hold something so precious, so valuable to her.

"I've never held a baby." She says, biting her lip. "I don't know how—"

"It's easy. It's just like carrying anything else." He interrupts. Placing her in Luminara's arms, the baby seems to calm significantly and nuzzles and against her mothers chest.

"Oh, she is beautiful." Luminara gasps, tears filling her eyes again. "I can't stop crying! I'm so sorry Obi-Wan, I must look a state."

Shaking his head, he kisses her on the forehead. "You're always beautiful to me."

They lie down on the bed together, taking in the creature she holds against her chest closely. Both of the new parents send swirls of love around their infant that momentarily distracts her from her pressing hunger and are successful in stopping her crying. _The force is just,_ she thinks. _No amount of suffering could not be worth her. The pain, I'd do it all again tenfold if it meant I could just lie here, with her. And with him, my love._ The couple share a kiss, chapped and bloodied lips meeting in a way of love, not even an ounce of lust remained between them.

This was love, they knew. And if being a Jedi meant they couldn't feel it, they'd throw it all away.

* * *

"What do you mean!" Luminara looks at her padawan, utterly appalled. They were set to land on Coruscant soon and the baby had become increasingly hungry. Having no idea about how babies ate other that with bottles, Barriss had had to explain what breast feeding was to her Master. Luminara didn't like the sound of letting her baby suckle at her breasts for food—surely that _couldn't_ be natural, could it? "Babies don't drink from...from..."

"Breasts, Master?" Barriss finishes, smirk on her face, arms crossed in front of her as she leans against the doorframe. "I've studied infant care, I have to if I want to become a proper healer. During the period of gestation your breasts will have filled with milk to feed your child. It's a natural process, we've been doing it ever since the first humanoids walked the universe. Shaaks do it too—you know, those cow things on Naboo. Most mammals do."

Luminara sighs. "Thank you for comparing me to a 'cow thing', Barriss." Instead of blushing like she would when they had first met, Barriss just laughs. "I must admit, I feel a little uneducated not knowing any of this."

Barriss shrugs. "You're a Jedi. I suppose there wasn't much reason for you to understand breastfeeding."

"So...what do I do?" Luminara asks awkwardly—as much as she doesn't want to get her breasts out, she'd rather have to do it with Barriss than anyone else (except maybe Obi-Wan, after all, he has quite scandalously seen it all before). "Do I have to take my bra off?"

Blushing slightly, Barriss nods, taking the baby while her Master disrobes herself. "Have you thought of a name for her yet, Master?"

"No. I haven't a clue what to name her." Luminara sighs, unclasping the back of her bra. She'd always worn ties around her chest before but after the fifth month of pregnancy they had been increasingly impractical so she'd had to revert to the more traditional bra. "Had she been a boy it would have been much easier—but she's not, so I'll just keep trying."

Covering her chest with her arm, Luminara took her daughter back in her arms and lifted her to her chest. "What do I do now?" She furrows her brows together and Barriss shrugs again, blush darkening even further.

"I don't know...just wait. She'll figure it out." Sure enough, after a few minutes the baby began to suckle happily against her mothers chest. Luminara wasn't too sure whether she liked the feeling or not—part of her was happy that she could provide food for her child from her own body, and part of her couldn't help thinking that the whole thing was strange and immodest (Mirialan customs that were drilled into her from a young age kicking in again).

When she stops drinking, the baby lets go and Luminara covers herself up, smiling warmly at the little creature in her arms. "She looks quite happy now, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, but you'll have to burp her before long or she'll be sick everywhere."

Luminara's face creases. "Burp her? Oh force, this child is demanding. Why can't she burp herself?"

Barriss laughs again, leaning against the wall behind her. "Master, she's just over a day old. She's just learning how to breathe without you, how to feed, how to see and hear. You can't expect her to have burping sorted as well."

"I suppose not." Luminara sighs, lifting the infant up under her arms directly opposite her face and staring. "How does one burp a baby?"

"Actually, I don't know. It wasn't really necessary for a healer to know." Barriss says. "Maybe one of the others will know?"

Luminara sighs again. She'd always thought being a Jedi was a difficult lifestyle, but perhaps the art of childrearing would be, in fact ,more of a challenge than protecting a universe from Sith Lords.

She did have one consoling thought, though.

At least she'd do better than Dooku.

* * *

Obi-Wan grins as he watches Ahsoka make faces at the baby. Her and Barriss had spent a lot of time with the younglings in the past and appeared to know what they were doing—much more than he or Luminara knew, anyway. In truth, both of them had made every effort to avoid little children in the past.

They'd arrived at the Jedi temple in the middle of the night and were going to report to the council first thing in the morning. Luminara enters the room after just having a shower (a well needed shower after spending a night in a bacta tank), smiling—a sincere smile, it's been a long time since she's done one of those—as she looks at her family. "You're good with her, Ahsoka." She says. "I wish I had the natural maternal instinct that you and Barriss seem to have."

"It's just practice, Master." Ahsoka replies, giggling as the baby threw her arms out and scrunched her eyes shut. "I think she's smiling! Do you see that, Master Kenobi?"

He laughs, seeing how genuinely excited Ahsoka looks. "She does look happy."

"Have you still not thought of a name for her?" Ahsoka asks.

Obi-Wan shakes his head. "We can't think of anything that we both like. I'd thought about naming her after a previous Jedi, but _someone_ didn't like a single thing I suggested."

Luminara rolls her eyes, but is smiling. "I just don't think Tahl suits her. Or Nomi." He gives her a look. "Or Satele or Fae or Saba, okay? Or the dozens of others you suggested. It's just that this is going to be her name for her entire life and I want it to feel...right."

"I think coming up with names is fun." Ahsoka chimes. "It was fun coming up with an alias when we were taken onto the command ship outside Serenno." She grins. "My name was Deeri."

Obi-Wan looks at the baby. "Deeri? She sort of looks like a Deeri, yeah?"

Luminara sighs. "No, no, no. She's too...human-looking to be called Deeri, it's to exotic for a sweet little mundane creature like her."

Obi-Wan frowns. "I can't tell if 'sweet little mundane creature' is an insult or not."

"What about Nerina? That was Barriss' alias." Ahsoka suggests.

Expecting a no, Obi-Wan sighs and tries to think of something else, but Luminara's face lights up. "Nerina! Yes, I like that, Nerina. Oh, Obi, doesn't that just suit her wonderfully!" She picks her daughter up and spins around excitedly. "It's perfect, do you like it Obi-Wan?"

He smiles, a warm paternal feeling building up inside him as he watches mother and child so happy together. "Yeah. Even if I did say no we'd be stuck here until she's 18 trying to find something you like."

Nerina's hand gently grabs at Luminara's headdress, though she can't quite reach it. Luminara was about to take it off—since she's already found her lifemate anyone can see her hair, but she does like wearing it for sentiments sake—but before she can remove it, the garment gets blown off telekinetically.

She looks at Obi-Wan in confusion. "Was that you?" He shakes his head.

"I think it was the baby." Ahsoka says. Luminara gives her daughter a look, but she looks completely the same—that little squashed face that all newborns have.

They all laugh, though Obi-Wan doesn't find it funny. His daughter is the most powerful force sensitive to be born in living memory, and that was all but a reminder. What child is capable of wielding the force at a day old?

His thoughts are interrupted when Anakin enters the room with Senator Amidala. "We wanted to come before your meeting with the council." Anakin says.

"What can we do for you?" Obi-Wan asks.

"I was hoping I could help you." Padme says, smiling at Obi-Wan. "You are my friend, Master Kenobi, and I have been made aware of your situation." She turns to Luminara who was holding Nerina against her chest protectively, since she didn't know the Senator from Naboo yet. "I don't believe we've met, Master Unduli. My name is Padme Amidala, Senator from Naboo. Master Skywalker, Master Kenobi and Ahsoka are good friends of mine."

"It's nice to meet you, Senator Amidala." Luminara replies, holding her free hand out for her to shake. "I only wish I looked more respectable..." She puts her daughter down on the bed and picks up her headdress that was on the floor, quickly adjusting it over her head.

"I spoke to Senator Amidala about your situation, and should you need to be relocated she has a place where you could live." Anakin explains.

Obi-Wan smiles. "That is very kind of you, though really don't have to." In truth, he hadn't really thought about where he and Luminara would go once they order ejected them (which they most certainly would). His best idea had been to return to Mirial or Stewjon and find the unlikely possibility of them having some distant family left.

"It would be my pleasure, Master." Padme smiles warmly. "Besides, I think it is important you live in a safe area, especially if your daughter is who she is said to be."

"You have my thanks, Senator Amidala." Luminara says gratefully.

"Please, call me Padme." She replies. Her eyes turn to Nerina. "Have you chosen a name for her?"

"Just now, actually." Obi-Wan tells her. "Nerina."

"That's beautiful." Padme says, looking at the little person in Luminara's arms. "May I hold her? I adore little children, they are so calming, don't you think?"

"Of course." Luminara passes Nerina cautiously into Padme's arms. "Though I find they are generally more calming when asleep—not crying when you haven't a clue what they need."

Padme laughs, gently rocking Nerina side to side. The little girl's eyes were open, the same bright blue as her mother. Obi-Wan was glad she inherited that, she was quite a clear combination of Mirialan and Human, not looking too much like either. "She is very calm." Padme notes.

Ahsoka snorts. "You should see her when she's hungry. That girl is like an angry rancor." Luminara playfully hits her on the side, though can't conceal the smirk on her face.

"It's true." Barriss concedes, leaning against Ahsoka's shoulder gently.

"It's almost time, Obi-Wan." Luminara says, looking up at the clock. "We need to get to the council room."

He nods. "Ahsoka, Barriss, can you watch Nerina? Please feel free to stay with her if you like, Padme, I'm sure Ahsoka and Barriss could use some company other than a newborn."

"You're forgetting me, Master?" Anakin says, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't really trust you with her after that incident on the ship." Obi-Wan replies with a grin.

"What incident on the ship?" Luminara asks warily.

"Nothing!" Obi-Wan and Anakin both say at the same time, Obi-Wan tugs Luminara out of the room before that discussion could go any further.

He and Luminara walk along the corridors towards the council room, absentmindedly holding hands. This was it—the end of everything they'd ever worked for, even known. He was happy to have a family, to have found a love he had thought impossible, but part of him was still extremely. nervous. He could sense her nervousness too.

"For Nerina." She says quietly, as they approach the council room.

"For Nerina." He repeats, and they walk in together.

* * *

He knows he must keep an air of professionalism about him since he needs to dismiss Jedi and do his job, but Master Yoda can't help feeling somewhat sentimental when Luminara Unduli and Obi-Wan Kenobi enter the council room. He had foreseen this moment a few weeks prior—had seen the true paternity of the Chosen One, and had seen his fierce protectiveness he had of his mate and daughter.

Different members of the council were regarding them in differing ways. Those who had known Kenobi and Unduli, like Shaak Ti and Plo Koon, seemed to looking at them with pity and regret, but some others such as Oppo Rancisis saw only disgrace and betrayal in the pair.

It supposed, Yoda knew, how liberal the Jedi was when regarding the code.

"Master Unduli, Master Kenobi." Mace Windu starts, expression completely professional. "You are under the accusation of breaking the attachment rules in the Jedi Code, and conceiving a child together. The punishment for this is ejection from the Order. Do you deny this?"

"Not at all, Master Windu." Obi-Wan says. "Master Unduli and myself accept our punishment."

"Well then the council's judgement is final." Master Windu had been expecting some kind of resistance, Yoda can sense, though had he known either Kenobi or Unduli well he would have known this was unlikely. Both of them did as they were told, and always had (excusing that one major incident). They weren't the kind to question the council. "However we have one final request."

"Request?" Obi-Wan beckons him to continue. Yoda knows what they will say, but lets the transaction happen anyway. Master Unduli is frustrated and upset he senses—her previous torture has shaken more than she'll ever admit and she feels an incapable mother. Yoda sends her waves of comfort through the force, hoping it will help to calm her.

"The child of your union is greatly strong in the force, the one that has been prophesised for centuries." Mace says. "We would like to keep her at the temple when the pair of you leave, to train her as a Jedi. Of course she would be told of your existence but we'd have to prevent your seeing each other. Due to the attachment clause that both of you violated."

He speaks harshly, Yoda knows, but Mace did feel sorry to be losing two such reliable and good-natured Jedi. Just as he foresaw, Master Unduli begins laughing. "What, you expect us to just give her to you?" She asks incredulously. "I was away from her for about six hours after she was pulled from my body by medical droids, I will not be parted from her for any long period of time again."

"Master Unduli." Mace says, beginning to tense. "I must insist—your daughter is the Chosen One—"

"I DON'T CARE!" She interrupts, though not maliciously. Her laughs are bitter and show clear offense. "She could be a retarded potato but I still wouldn't part from her. She is my child, and therefore it is my duty as her mother to protect her as I see fit. I _do not_ think that is particularly safe for her to be raised as a soldier and sent to battle in a war that she shouldn't be involved with, and as her mother that is my decision to make, _not_ yours, Master Windu."

"Respect your wishes, we shall." Yoda says calmly, understanding her motives completely. While a reasonable and disciplined Jedi, Luminara Unduli also showed great compassion for those unable to defend themselves, those with no one to protect them. That is how she saw her baby, as that was what it was, completely dependent on its guardians.

She would make an excellent mother.

"May we inquire where you plan to go to after your departure from the temple?" Plo Koon asks.

"We haven't considered much yet." Obi-Wan says—and it's partly true. They were most likely going to take Senator Amidala up on her offer, but they hadn't _technically_ accepted it yet, and they didn't want the Jedi knowing where they went if it was avoidable. "Perhaps Stewjon or Mirial."

Yoda nods. "Dismissed, you are. Thank you for your years of service, we do."

Obi-Wan and Luminara bow in sync, leaving the council room in silence. They're love is obvious, Yoda thinks, and he wonders how he didn't foresee it previously. Like two pieces of a puzzle, Luminara Unduli and Obi-Wan just fit together. It's a controversial opinion, but Yoda is honest when he believes that leaving the Jedi is the best thing for them and their child at that moment. They'll return one day, but for now it was time for to heal in each other's force. To have a little peace in all the chaos.

* * *

"You and me need to have a little talk, Unduli." Luminara can't help but laugh as she senses Shaak enter her room as she packs up her things.

Feigning surprise, she raises an eyebrow. "Whatever about, my dear?"

Shaak smirks. "I don't know, maybe the fact that you got knocked up and ejected from the Order? What happened to by goody-two-shoes best friend that couldn't even expose her ankles without feeling scandalous, huh?"

"That ankles thing is an over exaggeration." Luminara can't help but smile, and pulls her old friend into a hug. "I'm going to miss you, Shaak."

"And I you." Shaak replies. "I'll miss lectures and your puzzles and your sexy, sexy ankles."

The Mirialan rolls her eyes. "Why won't you get over my damn ankles?"

"As a parting gift," Shaak starts, ignoring her friend's previous statement. "I'd like an explanation, please, with details. Start on Geonosis where this whole business started."

Luminara sighs. "Well, I had just been captured by the Geonosian Queen..."

* * *

The first thing Obi-Wan notices when they land is the smell.

Senator Amidala was graciously providing them with a place to stay on Naboo where she swore no one could find them—it was ten minutes from the capital city by rowboat and, as Obi-Wan's nose told him, was in the middle of an enormous field of flowers. "The flowers." Luminara says, clutching a sleeping Nerina to her chest as they walk closer. She and Obi-Wan were walking alongside Padme over to the field that they couldn't yet see, with Anakin, Barriss and Ahsoka lagging a little behind."What are they?"

"They're called celosias." Padme replies. "I used to pick them with my sister when I was young, they're very uncommon nowadays." The flowers themselves, once they come into view, are magnificent to look at— a cacophony of purples, oranges and pinks. Obi-Wan can't help but smile. _Luminara will love it here._

Anakin and Padme were _supposed_ to have been their only escorts to Naboo, but Barriss and Ahsoka had decided to tag along (as was their right, in Obi-Wan's opinion, since they'd played a large role in Luminara's rescue). He could sense Barriss' nervousness about parting—she'd have to be reassigned a Master, and ever a shy girl, Barriss had been dreading it. He knows Luminara planned to have a one-on-one conversation with her apprentice before they parted ways, and knew that they'd still talk over comlink.

Before Nerina and himself, Barriss had been Luminara's only family. Her own Master had been cold to say the least, and Obi-Wan had no fond memories of the now-deceased man, so it was strange to see Luminara and Barriss in such a close and friendly relationship. They'd lived together, and while the Jedi code always kept them an arms distance apart, it was a bond that both of them would always treasure. "Obi-Wan!" He hears his lover call.

"Yes?" He replies.

"Aren't the flowers beautiful?" The Mirialan was literally glowing as she carried her child close to her and took in the scent of flowers, but Obi-Wan understood her force signature well enough to know that her joyful presentation was forced. In truth, no one, not even a Jedi could get over what she went through in a few days, and it would haunt her for years to come. She just wanted to put on a happy show for the others since it wouldn't so to have their parting be sad.

After a few minutes of walking through the flowers, Padme lead them into a little house in the centre of the field, just by a bend in the river. It was wooden with a red tiled roof—it reminded Obi-Wan of some of the more upmarket Twi'lek hostels he'd seen on Ryloth. "It used to be my Grandfather's." Padme tells them. "He would come out here just for the calm, and re-did this little farm house. It's got a big kitchen and living area, two little bedrooms and a 'fresher inside. I thought it would perfect for you and Nerina, since it's virtually undetectable, and even if someone did find you they'd have to answer to the Galatic Senate since its under the protection of my family. Legally, you're untouchable here."

"We can't thank you enough." Obi-Wan says as he steps inside. This is his home now, Luminara's home, Nerina's home. "It's almost like a dream—I can't explain it."

Padme laughs. "It is my attempt of repayment, Master Kenobi, for all the things you have done for over the years."

"There was no need for repayment, Padme, really. I am eternally grateful to you." He gives her a real smile to show his gratitude.

"It is nice, Master." Anakin says. "From the Jedi temple to a flower field. I must admit, I don't think anyone foresaw this future for you.

* * *

The group of them help Luminara and Obi-Wan unpack their things (though it was really unecassary—they didn't own very much) and Padme had gifted them a crate of baby things that made Luminara feel both overwhelmed and grateful.

Ahsoka and Padme were playing with the baby while Obi-Wan and Anakin were trying to fry an egg telekinetically, though Barriss was sat alone. Seeing the girl she'd effectively raised so upset made Luminara's heart literally wrench until she could bear it no longer."Barriss." She whispers kindly. "Walk with me?"

The young girl nods, following her Master (she'd _always_ be her Master, no matter what the council said). "I wanted to talk to you alone, properly, before you leave." Luminara begins. "You have been the best apprentice I could have ever wished for, padawan, and I hope you know how immensely proud of you I am. Obi-Wan has told be of your achievements throughout my rescue mission—words cannot begin to explain how grateful I am to you."

Barriss isn't crying—no, not yet—but can feel her eyes beginning to water. She reaches out to hold her Master's hand and grips it tightly. Luminara is surprised at this action, but replies by echoing Barriss's movements. "Thank you, Master." The young Mirialan says, trying terribly hard not to start crying. "For everything. I know that Jedi aren't supposed to form attachments, but I'll always be attached to you. And I know we have no family, but I can say proudly that you _are_ my family, Master. You're the closet thing to a Mother I've ever had, ever will have, which is why I know you'll be amazing with the baby." Luminara's eyes are watering now as they wade through the sea of flowers. She hadn't really ever spoken to Barriss about things of this nature before, and is genuinely surprised to hear what an impact she's had on the young girls life.

"I would be honoured to name you my first daughter, Barriss. For you have been that for me." She first tear rolls down Barriss's cheek and her Master wipes it away carefully with her index finger. "Don't cry now, young one. This is not a sad moment. You'll go back to the temple with Ahsoka and Master Skywalker and you'll be reassigned. Master Skywalker will insist that you get put on missions with him and Ahsoka—I wanted this because your friendship with Ahsoka is a precious and rare thing, Barriss, treasure it."

"I don't want a new Master..." Barriss says lowly. "I only want you."

Being unable to stop herself, Luminara pulls her adoptive daughter into a gentle hug and sends calming waves through the force to her apprentice. "Master Secura." She whispers.

"What?"

"Master Secura will most likely be assigned to you." Luminara tells her. "She has never taken a padawan before and only passed her trials a few years ago, so you'll have to patient with her as you were with me to begin with." Barriss smiles recalling the days in which they did not get along. "I haven't much experience with her, but she is a good Jedi and will get you through your trials. I promise we'll talk at least once a month over comlink if you like, and then...maybe, once you're a knight, you could visit me here. And your little sister."

"Little sister." Barriss repeats, with a smile. "Yes, she's my little sister." They pull apart and begin to go back down to the little house. "Master, I do have two last things I'd like to say."

Luminara slows her walking pace. "Yes, my dear?"

"It's...don't do _this_ to Master Kenobi. I understand that you want to seem fine in front of Master Skywalker and Senator Amidala, but I know your not. You won't admit it, not to me because you don't want me to worry, but talk to Master Kenobi about what happened. I still feel the agony you felt on Serenno and that isn't something you'll get over in a matter of days. Don't lie to him, Master, let him in. Please."

"I—I find talking about how I feel difficult, since I've been repressing my emotions for years." She sighs. "But I think I'll get there eventually. Thank you, Barriss, I will do my best to let him in to my thoughts and feelings."

"Good." Barriss smiles. "Your best is all I can ask."

"You said there were two things, padawan." Luminara stops in front of the front door where they can hear the other laughing.

Barriss takes a deep breath. "I want you to know Master...no matter how far away the future pulls, I'll always come back to you. I'll..." She chokes on her words and Luminara rubs her back to comfort her. "I'll always love you, Master."

"And I you, my dear." Luminara replies tearfully, and kisses her eldest daughter softly on the forehead.

* * *

Anakin, Ahsoka, Padme and Barriss leave the couple in their new home a few hours later, after a few more tearful goodbyes and some terrible jokes from Anakin in attempt to lighten the mood. They had offered to let their old friends stay the night, but Master Windu wanted them back at the temple immediately, and Padme had duties in the senate to get back to.

Luminara kept her brave mask on until their ship was out of sight and Nerina had fallen asleep in her new cot, but once she was alone with Obi-Wan she sobbed uncontrollably. He didn't blame her—if anything, he was in awe of how strong she must be to have held her tears inside her for long. They lay together on their new bed's tan sheets, he gently brushes his hand through her silky black hair as she cries.

He says nothing—just them existing in that room together was enough.

Their solemn silence was interrupted by their daughter who, from her new bedroom, began to cry. "I'll get her." Obi-Wan whispers softly

She nods, wiping under her eyes and letting him get up. Her body aches already once he goes, like every atom was desperately trying to cling onto him. Luminara knows she'll never get used to him leaving her again, even just for a few minutes.

Nerina was a small child due to her being two months premature—though all her internal organs had fully developed and were perfectly healthy, Barriss had said she might need a little more care than the average infant. "What's wrong, little miss?" Obi-Wan asks as he picks her up, smelling her backside to determine that she didn't need changing. "Are you hungry?"

Her screams intensify in sound as if to reply 'yes'. He takes her out to their bedroom where Luminara was lying against the backboard with a blanket lazily draped over her. "She's hungry. I'd feed her myself, but there aren't any bottles here yet." They'd made the mutual agreement to invest in bottles and milk formula since Luminara really disliked having to breastfeed Nerina, and Padme hadn't given them any in their baby crate.

She sighs. "Okay." She holds her arms out and still has a melancholy look on her face.

"I'll go if you want..." Obi-Wan says, looking away as he gives her the baby. Her mental state was very fragile, he knew, and had been taking every precaution to shield her from unease where he could.

Luminara laughs softly, the trace of a smile appearing. "It's not like you haven't seen me naked before, love." She says as Nerina begins to suckle greedily. "And besides, according to Barriss this is a normal thing to do. You should have heard her, Obi, she was trying to convince me to continue breastfeeding in future for almost a full hour. Apparently its better for her brain development or something." Luminara's smile disappears and she uses her free hand to gently massage her temple.

He can't help smirking as he sits down next to her. "Of course Barriss knows all about that."

"Force." Luminara sighs, leaning back against the backboard as Nerina continues to enjoy her meal. "Am I a bad mother for not wanting to breastfeed her? _Should_ I want to—is that one of those maternal instincts I'm supposed to have?"

"I don't think so. It's just a preference—if it makes you feel _that_ uncomfortable then you shouldn't do it." He shrugs.

"It's not that I hate it." She gently brushes her fingers over Nerina's wispy black hair. "I just feel very immodest doing so, thats all. I suppose that's what comes with Mirialan culture. Shaak would never let go of the time my ankle was showing once and I felt beyond scandalous."

He laughs and plants a small kiss on her lips. "There's a difference between being scandalous and beautiful, love. Though, I must admit, the sight your ankles would be enough to make some of the council members faint."

She swats him playfully. "You're mad, Kenobi."

Nerina pulls away making an noise thats a cross between lip smacking and sneezing, Luminara quickly covers herself up, patting her daughters back softly (they'd found out how to burp a baby). "She is beautiful, isn't she?" Obi-Wan says softly.

"That she is." Luminara replies, kissing her baby softly on the forehead. "I hope she'll be happy—not just now, in life I mean. I hope I can give that to her."

"You can. I know you can." Obi-Wan says it so firmly there isn't room for contradiction. "I mean you aren't a baby wiz, nor do I expect you to be, but I've seen you around Barriss. I can't imagine a better role model, can't picture a more loving and true person to take care of our daughter." Refering to her as his _daughter_ was still entirely new to him, and would take a while to get used to, he felt. It was a good thing to get used to, though.

A brilliant thing.

* * *

Luminara loved her daughter—of course she did, that little girl was in part everything she had ever wanted—but she wasn't entirely sure that she _liked_ her yet.

Obi-Wan was completely taken with the little girl, and could keep her entertained for hours without getting bored, but Luminara didn't seem to share the natural parental instincts he had. She felt so clueless about everything, and had felt so guilty about being a bad mother she'd reverted back to breastfeeding after a week of giving Nerina bottles.

They'd taken Nerina a doctor on Naboo that Padme had recommended, who hadn't been anything but shocked by their baby. It had seemed that the little girl wasn't particularly happy to be out of her usual surroundings and had caused a small tornado inside the doctor's office—only calming down when Obi-Wan forced himself through the wind and managed to comfort her. Her telekinetic abilities were unlike anything Luminara had ever seen, and hoped it wouldn't cause too many problems.

As expected, her midochlorian count had been off the charts.

After recovering from the shock and calming their daughter down, the doctor had asked:

"So when are you going to be sending your daughter to train with the Jedi?"

Luminara had choked a bit when she heard those words. No one in Naboo was aware that Obi-Wan and Luminara were ex-Jedi, they weren't particularly well known names so it was easy to keep anonymous. Besides, they lived in the lake country where very few people ever went other than a few shaak farmers, so they didn't need to become overly familiar with the native people. The only time they ever went into the city was when Nerina saw the Doctor and when Obi-Wan went looking for work or buying food. "No." Obi-Wan had said after a moment of shocked silence.

"We don't want to send her away. It took a long time for us to have a family." Luminara adds, since a simple 'no' may have lead to further questioning.

"A long time?" The doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "How old are the pair of you again, if you don't mind me asking?"

"26 and 24." Obi-Wan told him. "But we've known each other since infancy."

As she recalled the memory of the Doctor's office, Luminara was sitting in a rocking chair gently swaying back and forth in an attempt to get Nerina to sleep. Obi-Wan had gone out to find work—he had fixed a few speeders and gotten paid fairly well, so had begun looking for a permanent engineering placements. As much as she would have liked to work herself, Luminara knew someone had to stay at home with the baby, and he wasn't Nerina's food source.

And while she could always give up breastfeeding like she'd planned, it had become as vital for Luminara as it was for Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan was so great with her, they were like the best of friends, but Luminara felt the food was the connection she'd formed with her daughter.

"Oh, please stop crying!" She says, completely exasperated. "I'll do anything, please, just be quiet!"

Nerina keeps on wailing, waving her chubby little fists in the air angrily. Luminara clutches her to her chest, closing her eyes and continuing to rock back and forth. _What did Barriss and Ahsoka do to calm her? What does Obi-Wan do?_

She begins to sing an old Mirialan song. Her only memory of her parents is the song—she remember being sung it, remembers letting the words and tune calm her. Luminara had sung a lot as a child, but her Master had chastised her for it since it was an 'annoying activity'. It felt nice to let the Mirialan words roll of her tongue to a simple melody. She loses herself in the song so much that she only realises Nerina's stopped crying when she finishes.

The baby is smiling—properly smiling—when Luminara stops, gurgling and making a truly endearing squealing noise.

When she hears the door unlock a few moments later, Luminara rushes over to it with Nerina clutched against her chest to see Obi-Wan looking at her strangely. "What are you so excited for?" He asks with a grin.

"Look at her, Obi-Wan, look! I made her smile, oh, look at her!"

He laughs and wraps his arms around her, holding his family in a tight embrace.

Yes, they both knew.

This was love.


End file.
